Converging Series
by The Altered Destinies
Summary: The tale that started it all. A magic locket that has the ability to move people through dimensions gets loose. Havoc time! Crossover of quite a few fanfic worlds, the major ones being Ranma 2096, The More things Change and Ranma Nibunnoichi. This continues after the events of Descents and Inversions as Ryo Saotome attempts to return home. Things never work out right
1. Chapter 1

**Act 1**

Prologue:Once Upon A Time...

Once upon a time...

Young Shampoo, eight years old, wandered around her

village. She was restless, as she always was. Though the wind

howled and chilled the bone on this winter's night, she ignored

it. There was a feeling in the air that night... something that

made her restless. She crept quietly to her great grandmother's

hut (for it was there that she witnessed much magicks and other

things of wonder) and knocked politely.

[Shampoo? Why aren't you asleep? It's rather late.]

[I know, great-grandmother, but I'm not tired.]

It was at that point that she noticed the stranger in

the hut. He was an old man seated at a table, looking tired,

with a bag and some scrolls placed on the table.

[Who's he?] asked Shampoo.

[Him? Why don't you ask him yourself?]

She shyly approached him, and he regarded her with a smile.

[Well, hello there, small one] greeted the stranger.

[I'm not small!] protested Shampoo.

[Shampoo! Mind your manners!] reminded Cologne.

[Yes great-grandmother.]

[Ah, I am sorry I offended you] offered the old man with

an amused smile. [Who might you be, one who is not small?]

[I'm Shampoo, and I'm almost nine years old!] she said proudly.

[Well, Shampoo, nice to meet you. I'm Lo Fei Shen, a

humble old collector of stories.]

[Mr. Shen is here to check with us about an old legend] added

Cologne.

[An old legend?] asked Shampoo.

[Yes, quite a story,] said Lo Fei Shen, nodding.

[I like stories!]

[Do you? I'm glad to hear that.] He stroked his white

beard. [Perhaps... you would like to hear this one?]

Shampoo nodded enthusiastically, and the old man

couldn't help but smile.

[Well... this story has been passed from generation to

generation, throughout much of mainland China, and even to Japan.

However, it is a total mystery as to how it got started, and how

old the story is indeed. It may merely be a simple tale twisted

to grand proportions through the passage of time and the

exaggeration of men's tongues, or it could be a true detail of

something that really happened many years ago. I cannot

tell.]

Shampoo listened on, eager to hear the tale.

[This is the Legend of the Heart of Destiny... or

Destinies, depending on how you view it. It is an artifact that

is the cause of much speculation. It has never been found.

According to the legend, at one point there were _two_ Hearts of

Destiny... but as of today, if there is a Heart of Destiny, it

has yet to have been found. But that is later in the story...]

[Enough explaining! Want story!] piped up Shampoo.

The old man smiled at her eagerness, and said [Well...

this is a story of chases, and fighting, magic, miracles,

goddesses, dark forces, hate as dark as night, a love as bright

as the sun, and a love that was fated not to be.] He checked

briefly to see if Shampoo was listening, and she was, spellbound

by the introduction. Seeing that, he resumed his tale with a

smile.

[Once upon a time, there was a boy and a girl. They

were both descended from a long line of valiant and brave

warriors, although the girl did not practice the arts herself,

but instead turned her attention to the healing arts, and the boy

was more of a thinker than a fighter.

[Obviously not Amazons] said Shampoo smartly. Behind

her, Cologne grinned with amusement.

[These two were in love, deeply in love, and were

already arranged to be married by their parents. All was perfect

in their lives, until one day a strange girl appeared. She had

an item on her person, a silver heart-shaped item, which flared

of magical light. It is unknown where she had gotten it, but

this is the first time in any tale where it had appeared. It was

the Heart of Destiny. With it, she attacked the boy and his two

companions. While they were all great warriors, she defeated them

easily, and took the boy with her.]

[The girl was heartbroken when the other two told her of his

defeat and disappearance. They searched far and wide, but met with no

success. The boy was gone, and they had all feared the worst.]

[What happened to the boy?] asked Shampoo nervously.

[Wait for it,] said the man. [Now then... the girl

with the Heart of Destiny... or Destinies... she was quite

smitten by the boy the moment she saw him, and so took him away

with her on her. Unfortunately for her, she was traveling by

means of magic, a magic she had not fully mastered, and so she

had accidentally lost him as they traveled across the borders

of unseen worlds.]

[The boy awoke in a strange land, populated by many

great warriors and a few wielders of magic as well. Amongst this

lot, he gained allies, a sword wielding warrioress (no doubt an

amazon, for where else are there mighty female warriors?) and a

warrior who was cursed to be half a woman, half a man, but still

formidable in either shape. Together, these three tracked down

the young woman, who was actually a student and agent of an evil

sorceress. The three fought hard and valiantly against the

forces of the sorceress, her assistant, as well as foes both

human and from other worlds, and finally defeated the evil

witch.]

[That's it?] wondered Shampoo.

[Shh. There's more. Wait for it.] He smiled, then

continued telling the tale from memory. [The boy thought his

travels over, and foolishly took the Heart of Destiny, feeling

that such a device was best left in his protection. However, he

did not realize that the Heart of Destiny had a mind of it's own,

a whimsical, sometimes dangerous sort of spirit that only obeyed

those with a will strong enough and focused on it. And so,

lacking that knowledge and thinking it a mere tool to be used, he

took hold of it and commanded, "Bring me home!"]

[And what happened?] anxiously asked Shampoo.

[The Heart of Destiny took hold of him, and flung him

into yet another strange world. Here, he met more allies. A

great and mighty warrior with no memory of his past and hunted by

unknown foes. A warrior who was cursed to wander eternally, a

woman who was heir to a long dynasty of great warriors, and yet

another warrior woman, strong in mind as well as body, but also

with a longing heart. The Heart of Destiny had taken them all

somehow and brought them there for an unknown purpose...]

Act One:the Beginning

Consider a goldfish.

Most goldfish spend their short lives in a bowl. This

bowl is their world, their universe. Some bowls have pretty

rocks at the bottom, others have artificial plants, a few have

both, and lots have neither.

Sometimes people keep more than one goldfish in a bowl.

Usually the fish just swim around together, but sometimes they

eat each other.

Not many people dump blue food colouring in their

goldfish bowl, cover the top, and shake it around like a

fake-snow-filled paperweight. But if you told this story to Ryo

Saotome, he'd know exactly how the fish would feel.

Ryo, Tachi Kuno, and Ranko Saotome stepped out of thin

air and into the middle of a dimly-lit restaurant. "I think

this is where you want to be," Ryo said as he looked around.

"I'm not sure; I've never been here before. Knowing what you

want seems to be the key, but the Nekohanten doesn't exist in my

world."

Tachi nodded. "This is the place. And the century. My

mom made my father take us here two weeks ago. They still

haven't changed the decorations."

"Lucky you," grumbled Ranko. "Pop's idea of eating out

is goin' to Ucchan's." Ryo frowned at his transdimensional

half-sister. "D'oh, sorry," she apologised.

"What do you plan to do now?" Tachi asked, nodding at

the locket Ryo held tight in his fist. "You can go anywhere

with that. Anywhen. The possibilities are endless."

Ryo stared at the battered piece of heart-shaped silver.

"Knowing what you know, having spent a day in the past, what

would you do?"

Tachi made a face. "I'd throw it in the deepest well I

could find."

"That sounds like a good idea to me."

"Three for dinner?" asked an elderly Chinese man. He

held out menus.

"That," said Ryo, "is my signal to go home. Bell-chan

is waiting."

Ranko took a menu from the man and studied it, trying to

puzzle out the Chinese writing. "Well, it's been cool knowing

you, Ryo." She punched the boy in the shoulder with her free

hand. "Keep practising; you've got some good moves hidden in

there."

"Don't listen to her," Tachi advised. "When you start

thinking with your muscles, you stop thinking with your head.

It was nice meeting a boy my age with a brain, Ryo. I almost

wish you had a counterpart in my world."

Ryo stared at her in surprise. "I'm teasing," she told

him. "I mean, you're an almost-married man, and Bell-chan is my

friend."

"Oh." Ryo shook his head. "You did have me spooked for

a bit. Remember, the Tachi Kuno I know is a boy."

Tachi laughed, and patted Ryo on the cheek. "Go on, get

out of here."

Ryo held up the locket, and vanished in a flash of azure

flame.

Ratiko Hibiki paced back and forth. Ordinarily, that

simple act could have landed him in Antarctica, but Childra

Jansen was watching him, and he never left the Nekohanten.

"Where is she?" he asked the brown-haired woman. "Or, 'he.'

Or, 'them'... you know who I mean."

"They'll be here," she reassured her friend. "They _do_

have to avoid the C-Ko's, after all."

I guess you're right." Ratiko continued his pacing, lost

in thought if not in body.

A dark-haired boy with a distinctive pony-tail appeared

out of nowhere. He blinked his eyes in shock. "This can't be

right." Then he stared at his own right hand, which was

clenched in a fist. "Focus, Ryo, focus."

Ryo was facing away from Ratiko.

Ratiko wasn't looking where he was going.

They collided, then vanished in a ring of silver-blue

energy.

[This is not good,] thought Childra. She grabbed her

bo, then jumped through the rapidly narrowing gate after her

friend.

Miyabi Saotome tugged at the apron she was wearing.

[Why did Mom and Dad insist I get a part time job here?] she

asked herself for the tenth time that afternoon. [It's not like

I'm doing anything important here. All I do is catch the orders

when Aunt Shampoo throws them at me.]

Two boys appeared out of nowhere and fell on the unhappy

waitress; all of them went down in a tangled heap of flailing

limbs. Miyabi tried to push herself free, but the hand pressed

against the back of her skirt demanded attention first. "Leggo,

pervert!" She rolled over and slugged the first face she saw.

Ryo was on the top of the pile; his hands had

reflexively splayed open in a futile attempt to prevent his

fall. The pig-tailed boy, mortified, tried to apologise, but

"I'm sor-," was as far as he got before Miyabi's fist caught him

square in the jaw. Then the world became cerulean fire, and the

three teens vanished.

Ishido knew he was in trouble. A dozen hooded men had

surrounded him; neither they nor the weapons they carried looked

very friendly. "I don't supposed we could talk about this?" he

asked.

One of the men took a menacing step closer, and Ishido

felt his conscious mind slip away. Reflexes honed by years of

training took control. The first man went down in a hail of

punches and kicks.

There were still eleven more, though.

Two more assassins and a slightly wounded Ishido later,

the battle came to a temporary halt. The cute girl and the two

boys that appeared out of thin air might have had something to

do with that.

"Uh, where am I?" asked Ratiko.

"Where have you taken me?" demanded Miyabi.

Ryo didn't say anything. His jaw hurt too much.

Ishido blinked, reason returning briefly to his eyes.

"Um, excuse me, but do you think any of you could lend me a hand

here?" Then the nine standing assassins renewed their attack,

and his programming carried him beyond words.

Miyabi jumped into battle; the girl was a caged

hurricane, wreaking devastation on the hooded men who foolishly

thought they had nothing to fear from a beautiful young woman in

a short skirt. Ratiko shoved Ryo away and tried his best not to

get killed. Ryo blinked a lot.

[This is wrong], his befuddled mind told him. [This is

really wrong. This whole day has been really wrong. I wish I

could start over.]

A glowing gate opened up, swallowing Ryo and Ratiko.

"Hey, come back here," Miyabi shouted. She ducked under an

assassin's sword, then dove through the closing portal.

The part of Ishido's mind that still functioned

evaluated his remaining opponents. Four to one were not bad

odds. Then reinforcements arrived. The gate was still there,

so he made a tactical retreat.

Cold water worked miracles in Nerima, and Ryo returned

to full consciousness. He sat up, spit out a mouthful of the

canal, then ran his fingers through his bangs. In the process

he managed to hit himself in the head with the locket; its chain

was wrapped around his fingers. [That was close,] he though as

he slipped the charm in his pocket. [If I'd lost that, I'd be

in _big_ trouble!]

A fruit bat tangled itself in Ryo's hair and tried to

beat him to death with her wings. "Go away," he told it.

Then Childra fell out of the sky. She landed near Ryo,

accidentally hitting him in the head with the bo staff she

carried.. "So sorry," she said. "I didn't expect the gate to

open over a canal."

"You know about-" Ryo began, but then Miyabi appeared.

Like Childra, she appeared above Ryo. Unlike Childra, she

landed in his lap. The pig-tailed boy tried to catch her, but

instead he caught the front of her apron.

"Pervert!" Miyabi's full-armed slap gave Ryo's dentist a

full afternoon's worth of business.

Just when Ryo thought that nothing else could possibly go

wrong, Ishido appeared. The mind-warped assassin-in-training

had jumped through the gate head-first; consequently he skipped

the intervening steps and hit Ryo in the head with his own skull

before hitting the water.

[Why can't I ever get hit in the stomach?] Ryo asked

himself before passing out.

This had been an... odd... Tuesday, thought Childra.

Usually, on a Tuesday afternoon she could expect to sit down

with a nice cafe-au-lait and leaf through some history texts

until evening, when she would do research of a different sort at

the campus bar... Today, she had ended up fighting leotarded

nuns alongside a ghost to save the life of a Jyusenkyou-cursed

were-bat and a resurrected martial artist/gender bender, only to

later leapfrog through space-time and end up landing in a canal.

And now, she had an unconscious boy, a pair of conscious lunatics

and a fruit bat to deal with...

"What IS it with you and men's fragrances, anyways?" she

asked one of them, a long-haired boy with a lupine figure.

"Must... find... COLOGNE! Must... find... COLOGNE!"

Childra sighed. Must have been quite a blow to the head.

"Go to sleep, hon. You need it." The boy nodded and

then collapsed into unconsciousness. Childra pulled his face

out of the water. [No sense letting him drown,] she thought.

"Poor guy," said the girl. Miyabi, she thought her name

was. Rat-bat had taken a liking to her, and was perched on her

shoulder.

"Oh, he'll be fine... Looks like a strong-enough

fellow... And handsome, too..."

"Hai." Miyabi suddenly realised what she'd said, and

blushed.

"No need to worry 'bout it. We're both girls." Smile.

"Thanks. You're SURE you don't know the way to the

Nekohanten?"

"I do, dear, but, like I told you, I've never seen you

before..."

"I've worked for Aunt Shampoo for months!"

"Well, your 'Aunt Shampoo' has been in China for a

century, unless I'm much mistaken, and she only came back to the

Nekohanten a day or two ago." Miyabi looked puzzled.

"Are we talking about the same person? Purple hair,

Chinese Amazon?"

"Hai, but..." they were interrupted by a voice - or

rather, a yell - familiar to them both.

"RANMA NO BAKAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" Akane was chasing

Ranma alongside the canal with a mallet.

[Ranma and Akane?] Childra thought to herself. [Must

have only been a teleport, and not a time jump...]

"Daddy!" shouted Miyabi, and jumped towards the two.

The fruit-bat, noticing Ranma, flew off her shoulder and flew to

meet him. Once she was near enough, she started to suck on his

eyeballs. Not a good idea. One well-placed punch, and the bat

flew against a nearby tree, then dropped to the ground, stunned.

Akane chose that moment to finally hit Ranma, knocking

him into the canal. A splash later, a very confused Ranma-chan

was trying to fight off a glomp by a black-haired version of

herself. Akane stood on the sidewalk next to the canal, eyes

wide and red with anger.

"You have a DAUGHTER?! Why, you two-timing PERVERT!"

"A-Akane... I can explain... I don't know her, she

just..."

"Whose is it? Ukyou's? Shampoo's? KODACHI'S?"

"Yours, mother," said Miyabi, tears in her eyes.

"Excuse me," said Childra. [That... DOESN'T look like

Kim... But then...] Her interjection was ignored, as Akane

looked the girl over.

"But... You're MY age... You must be mistaken..." said

Akane. Ranma took the opportunity to vindicate herself.

"You see? She's NOT mine!"

"Unless," said Childra with a grin and a wink, "you're

more precocious than I gave you credit for." Ranma-chan stared

at her.

"Do I know you?" Ranma asked.

"ANOTHER beautiful woman you don't know? With a memory

like yours, I'm surprised you can find your way any better than

Ryouga! If she's engaged to you..." Childra's eyes widened at

the mention of the elder Hibiki.

"Ryouga? HIBIKI Ryouga? Married to Ukyou, nee Kuonji?

He's alive?!"

Akane, Miyabi and Ranma all turned to stare at Childra,

then blinked.

"Yes..." said Ranma.

"Uncle Ryouga is alive..." added Miyabi.

"But he's not married to Ukyou," concluded Akane. Then,

hopefully to Ranma, "Is he?" Ranma shook her head.

"Not unless she's REALLY been hiding something from

me..." She turned to Miyabi. "And I'm SURE that I haven't had a

daughter by that TOMBOY..."

"Who are you calling a TOMBOY, you PERVERT?!"

Childra cleared her throat.

"I think I can explain."

"EXPLAIN!" said the three other girls, in unison.

"First, what year is this?"

"1996," said Ranma. "November 12th, 1996." Childra

smiled, and Miyabi suddenly looked a lot more confused.

"That explains it, then," said Jansen.

A collective, "Huh?" Childra extended her hand.

"Childra Jansen, 2096. Pleased to meet you. Again."

"I'm getting a headache..." complained Ranma.

"2096? Then..." Miyabi looked at her parents. "They _do_

look a lot younger! You mean we? You're from the future, and

they..." Childra nodded. "Oh, boy..."

"You expect us to believe that?" asked Akane.

"Look at your daughter, if you don't," answered Childra.

She did. Standing beside Ranma-chan, as she was, the

resemblance between father and daughter was undeniable. They

might be sisters, even twins, were it not for the hair colour.

"I assume," continued the historian, "that that red-haired girl

is Ranma, and not some other person sharing her body?"

"H-hai..." now Akane was the confused one.

"Don't worry. I'll explain everything... Or at least,

everything I know... Right now, though, we need to get these

guys," she gestured at the prone males, "to a doctor. Is there

one nearby?"

"We always go to Dr. Tofu's..." said Ranma.

"Oh! Aunt Kasumi's!" Miyabi was ecstatic. Apparently,

she had fond memories of her mother's older sister.

"You really _are_ my daughter..." Akane finally

realised. "But that means that Ranma and I... We... We don't,

do we?!" Miyabi nodded, and Akane started turning red.

"There's NO WAY I'd EVER do anything like THAT with that

kawaiikune girl!"

"There'll be plenty of time to discuss this later,"

said Childra. "Right now, the doctor?"

"Hai."

With that, they picked up the bodies (not forgetting the

fruit bat) and started to walk towards Dr. Tofu's clinic.

Ratiko slowly came to consciousness and rubbed his

throbbing head... Saotome. He should have known. Whatever

troubles had come into his life, whatever happened to turn his

once idyllic existence into its present hellish state, whatever

rock he stubbed his toe upon... All of his problems could be

traced back to one source: the cross-dressing hentai jock called

Ranma. Curses, vicious nuns, becoming part of a century-old

Chinese Amazon's dinner... He was the cause. Why should he be

surprised that he had also had a part to play in his warping into

battle, and then landing in a cold canal? But... Ratiko looked

around... This didn't look like a canal...

He was in a simple room, with four white walls and an

equally blanched, unblanketed cot in the middle of it. No. It

was not a canal. How had he gotten here? Granted, his sense of

direction was lousy, but he was usually conscious when he...

"I think sleeping beauty's awake," said a voice from

without.

"Hello?" asked Ratiko.

A youngish man stepped into the room. He wore a dark

purple kimono, and kept his light brown hair tied back in a

small ponytail. He smiled at Ratiko, eyes twinkling behind his

wire-rimmed glasses.

"I'm glad to see you're feeling better. Ranma gave you

quite a beating..."

"What... I... The..."

"Be thankful it wasn't Akane..." The man noticed

Ratiko's confused expression. "Oh, that's right! I haven't

introduced myself yet!" He extended his hand to Rat. "Dr. Tofu

Ono. Childra's told me all about you." Ratiko took Dr. Tofu's

hand, and shook it, not knowing what else to do.

"I'm kind of... Lost..." Childra came in, and leaned

against the wall.

"Not surprising for a Hibiki," she said. Dr. Tofu

nodded. "Especially considering where and when we are..."

Ratiko's eyes widened.

"Where... and WHEN?"

"Congratulations, Rat; seems your navigational abilities

also apply to time travel."

"Time travel? But... Don't you have to get all sorts of

clearance for that, and the time, and energy..."

"You're rambling, Rat."

"Don't worry," the doctor interjected. "Just a side

effect of some of the drugs I had to give him... He should be

light-headed for a couple of hours..." [So _that's_ what it

was], thought Ratiko.

"So, er... Childra?"

"Yes?"

"What happened?"

Childra sighed.

"To tell the truth, darling, I don't exactly know. All

I've been able to figure out is that the focus for the time jump

is that pig-tailed fellow."

"RANMA?! I KNEW IT! I'LL KILL THE..." Dr. Tofu

cleared his throat.

"Not _that_ pig-tailed fellow," he said.

"It's the other one. Remember? The one you bumped into

in the Nekohanten." Ratiko remembered. Slowly... His mind was

still a haze, but details were beginning to come back...

"Oh, yeah... Where is he?"

"Still unconscious. I'll try to get information out of

him when he wakes up."

"And... Saotome? And Akane?" Childra looked at Dr. Tofu.

"THAT will take some explaining," she said. "I have

good news and bad news. The good news is, we're in Nerima."

Ratiko breathed a sigh of relief. "The bad news is, it's 1996.

November, 1996."

"NOVEMBER 1996? But Ranma died in October! Shouldn't he

be in that spring by now?"

"Ranma is not dead. Neither is Akane."

"WHAT?!"

"I told you it would take some explaining."

"But, if Ranma isn't dead, and Akane hasn't killed

herself, then great-gramps and great-grandma..."

"Ryouga and Ukyou have no intention of marrying," said

Dr. Tofu.

"Which means..." said Childra.

"That I WON'T EXIST?"

"But you clearly do. Ergo, dearie, we must not be in

our own time-stream. I don't know HOW the Ministry could have

botched their calculations THAT much, but they must've knocked

us into an alternate reality." True to his ancestors, Ratiko

was becoming more lost by the minute.

"I'm afraid I don't quite catch this..."

"Neither do I, lad," said Childra. "Mr. Pig-tail has a

lot of questions to answer when he wakes up." She grinned. "For

example, is he married?"

"Only you could think of something like THAT at a time

like THIS, Jansen... You're a historian! Aren't you the LEAST

bit worried that the past is being messed up?"

"It's not OUR past, Rat... And, as far as I'm concerned,

it just means there's more to study. I'm having a field day,

actually..."

"That's only because YOU'RE not in danger of not being

born..." Ratiko grumbled. Childra sighed and decided against

trying to explain the situation. Rat looked at the doctor. "YOU

seem to be taking this in stride. Aren't you confused?" Dr.

Tofu smiled.

"Believe me, Hibiki-san, by having my practice in Nerima

I've seen a lot stranger things... Ranma and Akane..." Ratiko

interrupted.

"Where _IS_ everyone, anyway?"

"Pig-tail's in the other room, recovering. I think

he'll be fine... Lucky for him I pulled his face out of the

water... Kasumi - that's Akane's older sister - is talking to

Ishido, who's just as muddled as you are..."

"Ishido?"

"Think battle. The long-haired boy who's fight we jumped

into." Ratiko shuddered. He remembered THAT.

"Right."

"So, Ishido's with Kasumi, and Ranma and Akane are with

Miyabi."

"Miyabi?"

"I think each of the places we warped into was an

alternate time-line; not just this one. Miyabi is Ranma's

daughter by Akane."

"So... Ranma's not dead, and Akane's not a ghost?"

"I certainly hope not... Saotome-kun's too kawaii to be

a necrophiliac..."

"CHILDRA! How did you ever get your MA with that

one-track mind of yours?"

Childra winked at him.

"Are you sure you want to know?" she asked.

Dr. Tofu blushed. So did Ratiko.

"I... I think I'll go.. Um.. I'll go check on that

unconscious boy, and leave you two alone..." He quietly slipped

out the door. Childra continued.

"The pair are quite interested in finding out what their

daughter wioll be like, of course..."

"Wioll?"

"Time-travel grammar."

"Oh."

"Miyabi also appreciates the chance to see what her

parents were like at her age."

"That's nice, Childra, but HOW ARE WE GOING TO GET BACK?

I don't suppose we could just take a taxi..." Childra frowned.

"Not quite. Truth to tell, I'm not sure how, or if, we

can get back... For now, all I can say is, enjoy yourself!"

"Enjoy myself? ENJOY MYSELF? Ranma's pulled me into

another fine mess, and..." Childra began to speak, but Ratiko

quieted her. "I don't CARE if he's not the Ranma I know! He's

STILL Saotome, and he's STILL to blame for all of this!"

"He only punched you, and you WERE trying to bite.. I

mean... You WERE trying to suck him."

"You're not going to convince me that he's innocent,

Childra. I _know_ he's GOT to be behind this. Who else would be

out to make my life miserable?" Another sigh from the historian.

"Look, Rat. RELAX. If you're going to be stuck here,

and we WILL be stuck here, you might as well have FUN. You

always tell me how you admired your great-grandfather, ne?"

"Hai. But he's not my great-grandfather anymore, now,

is he?"

"Never mind that. It's still the same person. He is

still Hibiki Ryouga, and you are still Hibiki Ratiko. AND, he

lives in Nerima. Why don't you see if you can find him? Judging

from Akane and Ranma's response to Miyabi, I'm sure he'd love to

meet you."

"Thanks, Childra. I suppose you're right... What are YOU

going to do?" Childra smiled.

"Oh, I don't know WHAT I'll do with myself... Tatewaki

Kuno's not a monk, Shampoo's Mousse is alive, young and single,

and your great-grand-papa won't be marrying anytime soon..."

"CHILDRA!"

"I can't help myself, dearie. Don't worry... I'm also

interested in doing some research... Think of it! No one else,

as far as I know, has had this opportunity... Heck, I didna

think the department was CAPABLE of this type of time-shift.

Bothers me, though. Why'd they choose such a young lad for the

test subject? Gotta ask him about that when he comes to..."

"Could you... Could you leave me alone? I need to rest."

"Sure! I'll go see how the others are getting

along...", Childra said, and left through the door into the main

clinic.

Ratiko lay back in the cot and thought. Ranma and Akane

were both alive, but both had to die so that Ryouga and Ukyou

would be driven to marry each other... And, unless they married,

Ratiko would not be born. Saotome must be killed. But how? If

Rat tried to go against him... Even with his new-found ki-blast,

he could only handle an unprepared and peaceful Ranma. If the

jock thought his life was threatened... 1996 Nerima, ne? Hm...

Ukyou had destroyed half of Tokyo with a spatula, so she had to

be pretty powerful. Maybe he could enlist the aid of

grand-mama. Then, of course, there was Ryouga. The man's...

Er... boy's... powers were legendary in 2096. If he could get

his help, then it should be a breeze to annihilate Saotome.

Once that was done, Akane's suicide should follow, and history'd

be back on track. Ratiko smiled to himself. Destroy Ranma.

Perhaps he _would_ enjoy this trip, after all...

Ranma and Akane sat with Miyabi in Tofu-sensei's waiting

room. Ranma and Akane kept sneaking embarrassed, shy glances at

each other as they talked to the girl.

"I was just working at the Nekohanten when some guys

dropped out of the air on top of me! And, well... I... err... hit

one of them and suddenly I was somewhere else, in the middle of a

fight. Not sure what happened, but then I was here, and that

pervert pig-tailed guy grabbed me out of the air and he hand his

hand... and he had his hand... and...and I just couldn't help

hitting him again!" She sighed.

Akane looked a little perplexed. [She's just like me...]

Ranma crossed her arms over her chest, "You sound too much

like that macho chick here to be anyone's daughter but hers.

Calling a guy perverted when it was you who fell on him."

Akane scowled at Ranma, "I only call guys perverts if they

deserve it, you pervert!"

Ranma glared back, "Irokeganee..."

Miyabi sighed, "Otousan, okaasan! Stop it!"

Ranma and Akane blinked at her, suddenly both embarrassed

again at the reminder of them being parents.

Ranma looked for a moment at his female body, "Umm, Miyabi,

do I get, well, cured?"

Miyabi shook her head, "Not yet..."

Ranma sighed a little, and Akane looked at him, "Well,

maybe our...err... the future will be different, and you'll find

a cure?"

Ranma nodded, "Yeah. There's no way I'd ever marry you, you

klutz!"

Akane glared at Ranma, starting to get angry.

Miyabi stood up, "Well, if you two want to argue all day,

I'm going to go see the others. Some example you're setting your

child!"

Ranma and Akane quickly stood up, too, only half glaring at

each other. "We'll come, too."

Miyabi nodded, "Auntie Kasumi's with that Ishido guy, and

the pig-tailed hentai's with Uncle Tofu, I think. Don't know

about the other guy, but I guess he's with Childra."

The three sixteen year olds wandered through the clinic

till they found Ishido and Kasumi.

Miyabi, on seeing her aunt, flew to her arms and hugged her,

"Auntie!"

Kasumi, looking just a little surprised, hugged the girl

back. "You must be Miyabi." She smiled down at the girl.

Ishido, resting on the bed, blinked, "You're the girl from

the fight, aren't you?"

Miyabi stopped hugging Kasumi, and nodded. "What was

happening?"

"Well, these guys were attacking me... I have to find

Cologne!"

Ranma scowled, "What do you want to see the old ghoul for?"

Miyabi blinked, "Old? I know she's horrible, but old?"

Akane and Ranma stared at Miyabi for a moment.

Kasumi stood up, "She's about a hundred years old, Miyabi..."

Miyabi looked confused, "She doesn't look it..."

Ranma scratched her hair, "She does to me."

Ishido looked between them, "You know Cologne? The old

ghoul in China told me to find her!"

Everyone started looking more and more confused. Kasumi just

smiled sweetly.

Dr. Tofu poked his head around the door, "I'd just like to

say that Ryo's woken up... Oh! Kasumi-san! How did you get here?

Did Betty let you in without telling me? I'll have to tell her

off for that! Leaving a guest like you waiting! And you four, did

you all come to show Kasumi where to wait for me? Or was it for

the appendicitis operation?" He pulled his skeleton, Betty, from

nowhere, and started to dance into the room with it. "Zun cha

cha! Zun cha cha!" he sang, waltzing with the pile of bones.

Kasumi smiled at the doctor, "Maa, he's such a nice, funny

man, ne?"

Ishido and Miyabi stared. Akane and Ranma sighed, shaking

their heads.

Ranma whispered to Akane, "Glad he's got no more patients

for the day..."

Akane nodded silently.

Miyabi watched the goings on, [What a weird place... Uncle

Tofu *used* to act weird, or so I've heard... and otousan and

okaasan are always fighting! Well, they fight a lot, but not

*this* much! Only Aunt Kasumi seems the same...] She looked over

at Ishido for a moment, [And what's he want with Cologne? Anyone

who wants anything to do with her must be up to no good! I'd

better keep my eye on him...]

She sat down on the edge of the bed, watching Dr. Tofu

dance.

Childra wandered down the hallway, almost run over by a

guy who seemed to be *dancing* with a skeleton!

She shook her head, [From what Akane told me about her

past, it seems the good doctor just saw Kasumi.]

Entering the nearby room, she waved. The female Ranma,

Akane, Miyabi and Ishido were talking with Kasumi. Childra

sighed, wondering why they were having such an animated

discussion about watered down perfume.

"Hi, girls! Hi, cutie!" She smiled at Ishido.

Ishido looked faintly confused. He sat up, trying to ignore

the pain in his head, "I've got to find Cologne before *they*

catch me!"

Kasumi tried to get him to lay back down in the bed, "Who

are they?" she wondered.

Ishido didn't lay back, "I- I don't know. I need to see

Cologne!"

Childra shrugged, "Well, I've got some perfume here for

you, sexy, but guys like you shouldn't be wearing that!"

Ishido frowned, "Perfume's the old ghoul in China.

Something to do with that girl... that... Hairspray?"

Ranma and Akane exchanged glances. [Sounds like he's

visited the Joketsuzoku...]

Miyabi frowned, "Those names sound a lot like Aunt Shampoo

and Uncle Mousse's names."

Ishido looked around the people in the room, "So you can

tell me where to find this Cologne!"

Ranma nodded, "She's usually in the Nekohanten..."

Miyabi still looked confused, [I guess this was back before

Cologne went insane ... Must be, that happened after mum and dad

got married...]

"I'll show you where it is," continued Ranma. Akane stood

up, nodding.

Kasumi sat back, letting the young man get out of the bed.

"Let's go, then!" Ishido walked to the door, Ranma and

Akane trailing behind.

Miyabi watched her parents and Ishido walk out. She

shrugged a little, then turned to Kasumi, "Can you show me the

dojo? I'd love to see how it looked back when otousan and okaasan

were my age!"

Kasumi smiled, standing up, "Of course. And you can meet

your auntie Nabiki, and your grandfathers."

Childra, interested in seeing the dojo, joined them.

Miyabi smiled, "And grandma, too?"

Kasumi gave a half worried frown, "She only comes around on

occasion. She doesn't know about Ranma-kun's curse yet, you

see..."

The three girls left the clinic, talking. Miyabi, trying to

find out as much about her family as possible, Childra trying to

work out all she can about the past.

Doctor Tofu danced by, with Betty.

Leaving the girls at the dojo, Kasumi went back to check on

Ryo and Ratiko. Ryo, sitting on a bed, sighed looking around.

"This is the wrong time... How do I get myself into these

messes?" He fingered the locket...

Kasumi smiled, checked his jaw, "Well, you'll be fine. I

believe that the knock to the head won't be a problem, but be

careful when eating. There is a nasty hand-shaped bruise on your

jaw..."

[That girl... she slapped me!] though Ryo, "Why did she hit

me?" he wondered out aloud.

Kasumi shook her head, and applied an ointment to the slap

mark, "She's a little high spirited, Miyabi-chan is. Very much

like her parents."

"Who're her parents?" he asked.

"It seems that she is the daughter of Ranma-kun and

Akane..."

Ryo blinked in shock.

Kasumi looked in the door, "Excuse me, Ratiko-san? How are

you doing?"

Ratiko's face, holding an evil look, became blank. "Oh, I'm

sure things will be fine..."

Kasumi, smiling sweetly, nodded and left him alone.

Ishido woke up, surprised to find himself in a bed. "Wha?

Who? Where..." he muttered groggily as he assessed his

situation. His first thought was that he had been captured.

He heard a sweetly lilting voice behind him exclaim "Oh my,

you're awake!" Ishido turned to see Kasumi smiling calmly at

him as she tended to his bruises.

"Who're you? Where am I? Can you help me? I've got to

find Cologne before they find me!" Ishido's questions tumbled

out like water over a precipice. [She looks.. familiar.. this

all does... but how?] Kasumi smiled and said "I'm sure your

friends can help you. My name is Kasumi Tendou, you're at

Doctor Tofu's, and yes, I do know Cologne-but you need medical

treatment first. It looks like you've been through a lot."

Kasumi bent to sponge off some of the dried blood, but Ishido

unsteadily pushed her away, go up, and wandered off to find

*someone* that looked familiar. Just as he reached the door,

though, three teenagers walked in, knocking him back far enough

so that he ended up sitting back on the bed.

"Auntie Kasumi!" exclaimed the youngest one as she hugged

Ishido's would-be nurse.

He recognized her, and said to her "Hey, you're the girl

from earlier, aren't you?"

Miyabi nodded. "Why were those guys after you, anyway?"

Ishido sighed. "Long story...actually, short story...about

the only thing I remember about my life is being chased around by

people just like that." Ishido sighed again. "Anyway, that's not

important. I came to Nerima to find Cologne...do any of you know

her?" He stared intently at Ranma, and Akane, even Kasumi. The

first two found it unnerving, the way his intense gaze seemed to

burn right through them. [Do.. do I *know* these two..? They

look... familiar... somehow.. ] Kasumi just smiled sweetly.

Ranma scowled. "What do you want with that old ghoul?"

Miyabi blinked. "Old? C'mon, I know she's horrible, but

she's not old!"

Kasumi sighed. "She's about a hundred years old,

Miyabi-chan."

Miyabi looked terribly confused. "She sure doesn't look

it..."

Ranma scratched his head. "She looks it to me..."

Ishido tennis-watched the two confusedly. "You know

Cologne? The old ghoul in China told me to find her! Can you

take me to her?" [Why can't I *remember*?!]

Everyone started looking more and more confused. Kasumi

just smiled sweetly again.

Dr. Tofu poked his head around the door, "I'd just like to

say that Ryo's woken up... Oh! Kasumi-san! How did you get here?

Did Betty let you in without telling me? I'll have to tell her

off for that! Leaving a guest like you waiting! And you four, did

you all come to show Kasumi where to wait for me? Or was it for

the appendicitis operation?" He pulled his skeleton, Betty, from

nowhere, and started to dance into the room with it. "Zun cha

cha! Zun cha cha!" he sang, waltzing with the pile of bones.

Kasumi smiled at the doctor, "Maa, he's such a nice, funny

man, ne?"

Ishido and Miyabi stared. Akane and Ranma sighed, shaking

their heads.

Ishido leaned over to Miyabi. "He wasn't...dancing...with

that skeleton, was he? I'm just suffering from the bump to the

head, right?" Miyabi shook an affirmative to the first question

and a no to the second.

Ranma whispered to Akane, "Glad he's got no more patients

for the day..."

Akane nodded silently.

Miyabi watched the goings on, [What a weird place... Uncle

Tofu *used* to act weird, or so I've heard... and otousan and

okaasan are always fighting! Well, they fight a lot, but not

*this* much! Only Aunt Kasumi seems the same...] She looked over

at Ishido for a moment, [And what's he want with Cologne? Anyone

who wants anything to do with her must be up to no good! I'd

better keep my eye on him...]

She sat down on the edge of the bed, watching Dr. Tofu

dance.

Childra walked in at about this point, narrowly avoiding

the Doctor's Dance of Death(tm), while, not as graceful as

Sanzenin's technique of the same name, was certainly just as

effective. She heard the word Cologne come up several times and

she wondered what the hell they were talking about.

"Hey girls! Hey cutie!" That last was directed at Ishido,

who was very uncomfortable with Childra's directness.

Ishido sighed. He _really_ had to see Cologne. "Hey, I

really need to find Cologne."

Childra grinned. "Well, I've got perfume for you here,

sexy, but it's really something more suited to girls."

Ishido shook his head negatively, "No, Perfume's the old

ghoul in China. She's...um...Hairspray's great-grandmother?

Yeah, that's it. Anyway, Perfume told me to find Cologne."

Ranma and Akane frowned. The both had the same thought.

[Joketsuzoku...*sigh*] Ranma's mind was working in overdrive

(for once. Occurances like Ranma thinking outside of a battle

situation were rare and to be savored.) [Better find out whether

he's defeated Hairspray or not-and find out what the ghoul

knows, too.]

Miyabi frowned, "Those names seem awfully familiar-like

Aunt Shampoo and Uncle Mousse..."

Ishido sighed a small sigh of relief. "Then you *do* know

her! Please, take me to her as soon as possible."

Ranma nodded. "She's usually at the Nekohanten. I'll take

you to her." Akane nodded, and they got up and, saying their

goodbyes, left for the Nekohanten.

During the short walk to Nekohanten, Ranma couldn't help

but notice that Ishido tensed up as soon as they left Tofu's,

and that his eyes darted around like birds, like he was afraid

that someone was going to attack him. Akane noticed too, and

was worried. [What could possibly have happened to him to make

him this afraid of everything?] All weirdness aside, it was a

beautiful day, and even Ishido didn't look as tense by the time

they reached the Nekohanten.

"Hey, old ghoul! We got someone here who needs to see

you!" Ranma shouted as they entered the Cat Cafe.

"Son-in-law. Well, bring them in, I don't have all day."

Cologne looked Ishido over. "So, what brings you here, to

see me? Not many seek me out, but those that do often have

grave reasons."

Ishido bowed. "Cologne, I was sent here by Perfume. She

says that I am 'airen' to Hairspray, and I am in need of your

help."

Cologne bug-eyed for a second. [This one bested Hairspray,

the only Joketsuzoku to have defeated Shampoo in tournament?

He bears watching-and helping, for I cannot afford to invoke

Perfume's wrath.] "Very well, I shall do what I can."

Ishido nodded. "May we speak in private?" [Her... I.. she

*can* help me.. or.. maybe... chikusho...]

"Certainly. This way, please." Cologne led him into the

office, and they sat and talked.

"I need your help. Perfume has told me that you know

something about my pursuers."

"That will depend. Who are your pursuers?"

Ishido sighed. "I'm afraid I do not know their name, but I

do know that they are lead by one who goes by the name of ...

of... *sigh* I'm afraid I cannot recall the name.."

Cologne shook her head. "I'm afraid that I cannot tell you

without the name. I may be able to help you in other ways,

however."

Ishido nodded. "So, you know nothing of my pursuers-I

cannot say that I am surprised, as this does not seem to be my

universe."

Cologne started at that. "*Not* your universe? What do

you mean by that?"

Ishido said "Only that, during a fight, some people arrived

through a glowing portal. I was hard-pressed, and followed

them. Where we arrived *looks* like the Nerima I have wandered,

but it is not."

Cologne nodded. "The Joketsuzoku have many artefacts which

facilitate this type of travel... but that is not the business

at hand."

Ishido continued with, "The travel has cleared some of my

mind-my pursuers wiped my mind clean, once, and I have had to

try to fill it, and to find my original memories. They also

placed compulsions on me-I was hoping you could fix them."

Cologne slowly nodded. She got up and went behind Ishido.

After poking a few pressure points, she grimly said "Whoever has

done this to you has used a technique I am not familiar

with-they have simply barriered your mind to your memories, and

placed the compulsions. The barrier is far too complex for me

to break-that is something you'll have to figure out for

yourself. The compulsions, however..." She quickly hit a few

pressure points. "There. You should now be free of those

compulsions. Now-keep in mind that this is *not* your Nerima,

but what you do here may have repercussions throughout all the

planes of existence." Cologne thought of something. "Oh yes,

where is Hairspray right now?"

Ishido smiled. "She stayed in China; I convinced her that

my life would be no good for her right now."

Ishido made a mental note of what Cologne had said, and

thanked Cologne. Ranma and Akane grilled him on what happened

once he rejoined them, and he said "Well, I'm back where I

started-but, at least, I won't kill anyone now." Ranma and

Akane puzzled over that statement as they walked back to the

doctor's office.

Meanwhile...

"It seems that she's the child of Ranma and Akane."

The words echoed in Ryo's mind, as he thought about the

implications inherent in that one simple statement. [She's

another half-sister-or...oh, whatever, but I need to talk to

her.]

[Another half-sister, another world... it seems like I'm

no closer to home than when I started.] Ryo stared down at the

battered silver locket. [Sometimes I wish we'd never crossed

paths; now, thanks to you, I've got to go through that pain all

over again.] Closing his fist he looked up at Kasumi. She was

busy putting away the jar of ointment she'd used on his bruise.

"Um..." Ryo said.

"Yes?"

"How many of us are there? I mean, how many people

don't belong to this world?"

"There are five of you. Miyabi-chan and Childra are at

the dojo, Akane and Ranma took Ishido to see Cologne, and Ratiko

is in the next room." Kasumi's voice took on a not of concern.

"The two of you were hurt badly; he was bruised all over, and you

took a nasty blow to the head."

"I feel fine now." Ryo tapped the bandage on his jaw.

"Except for this."

Kasumi smiled. "Doctor Tofu is very good at what he

does."

[Enough chatting,] Ryo told himself. [If I've learned

anything from this, it's that time travellers don't have time to

waste.] "This Ratiko, is he well enough to leave the clinic?"

"He should be." The eldest Tendou daughter blinked.

"Why do you ask?"

"I need to talk to all of us," Ryo told her, "and I'd

rather explain just once. My story is confusing."

Kasumi nodded. "I understand." She peeked her head

around the corner, calling, "Ratiko? Oh, that's odd."

"What do you mean?" Ryo asked. There was an edge to his

voice; he'd had enough odd things in the past day to last a

lifetime.

"He's not here. I don't see how he could leave. This

is the only door to his room, and neither of us saw him go by."

Ryo grit his teeth. [This is not good. Now what do I

do?] "You said the girls went to the Tendou dojo?"

"Yes. I took them there myself."

"Then that's where I'm going." Ryo took a deep breath,

trying to calm himself down. It wasn't Kasumi's fault that

events were going from bad to worse. "If Ratiko shows up, or if

Ranma and Akane bring Ishido back here, make sure they go to the

dojo."

Kasumi nodded her assent, and Ryo marched out of the room.

Neither of them noticed the small open window.

There was chaos at the Tendou dojo, but then, what else

was new.

Genma and Soun were running around the house. They

weren't drunk, but you would have been hard pressed to tell the

difference. Miyabi's parentage had thrown them for quite a

loop.

Miyabi was rather upset; she'd wanted to talk with her

grandfathers, but they were in no shape for a conversation.

Nabiki, on the other hand, was full of questions, but they were

all about the future of the stock market. Miyabi knew next to

nothing about the world of high finance in the early

twenty-first century, but her aunt continued to pump her for

information.

Childra was having a ball. [Now I know why Ranma and

Akane are so squirrely. It's genetic.]

Akane, Ranma, and Ishido chose that moment to come home.

Soun and Genma rushed their children, offering crushing hugs,

backslaps, handshakes, and congratulations. Ishido took a wary

step back. It was just better for everyone involved. (Or not

involved, as is the case.)

"Hey, cut it out," Ranma shouted as he socked Genma in

the nose. "I don't care what she says. There's no way I'd even

marry a tomboy like her."

Genma gave his son a hearty laugh. "Oh, you might say

that now, Ranma my boy, but _we_ know you'll change your mind

sooner or later." The bald martial-artist winked, but his

attempt at subtlety failed miserably.

"Saotome-kun, we must throw a party!" Soun declared.

"Yes, Tendou-kun, I think you're right," Genma answered.

"We should invite the entire neighbourhood."

"Everyone!" Genma agreed.

"And the press!"

"Imagine, our children on the news."

"And your wife!"

Genma paled. "No need to go that far, Tendou-kun."

Miyabi took the return of her parents as an excuse to

escape from Nabiki's interrogation. "Mom, Dad," she cried as

she hugged them both in turn. "I'm glad you're back."

Ranma turned red and looked away. "Um, yeah." Akane

just stared at her feet. The notion of having a daughter still

made the two of them uncomfortable, to say the least.

Miyabi picked up on this. She clasped her hands

together in front of her and smiled at her parents, turning on

all the charm she had inherited. "I'd really like to see the

rest of the house," she said.

Akane looked up. She returned her daughter's smile, a

bit shyly, true, but it was a start. "I'd be glad to show you."

"Dad?" Miyabi asked.

"Yeah, sure, I'll show you around. I've got nothing

better to do."

"Baka," Akane hissed. "That's no way to talk to our

daughter."

Ranma shrugged. "What else was I supposed to say?"

Miyabi sensed the growing argument. It felt like the

build-up of electricity before a lightning strike. "Mom, Dad?"

she asked. "The house?"

The would-be quarrel vanished like it had never been.

"Of course," Akane said. "My room is up the stairs..."

Ishido started wandering through the living room, but

Childra didn't let him get far. "Hey there, handsome. Did you

find what you were looking for?"

"Some of it. I won't be killing anyone by accident now."

Childra blinked. "That's a good thing," she said slowly.

Ishido nodded. "Now all I need is to get my memory back."

"No memory huh?" The scholar gave Ishido a speculative

look. "Then you wouldn't know if you've got a girlfriend, now

would you?"

Ishido blushed. "I... I don't think so."

"Good!"

Ishido blushed even more. Frantic to change the subject,

he asked the first question that popped into his head. "Do you

know how we got here?"

"Well," drawled Childra, taking on a professorly tone,

"some people say the birds and the bees have something to do

with i, and others blame storks. Now, I, on the other hand,

know a little bit about biology-"

"That's not what I meant!" Ishido cried.

"Well, then, say what you mean."

"What I meant to say was, 'How did we get to this

world?'"

Childra frowned. "I'd like to know that, too," she

said, all trace of flirting gone. "I'm pretty sure that

pig-tailed boy knows the answers, and I wish he'd woken up before

I left."

"Then you probably should have stayed at the clinic,"

said Ryo. The transdimensional veteran had walked through the

open front door when no one was looking. "Take it from me: the

last thing we should do is split up."

Childra pounced. "I have questions," she said, "and I'd

be willing to bet that you have answers. We can start with

names. What's yours?"

"I'm Ryo Saotome, from a world where Ranma lost to the

Gambler King and married Ukyou Kuonji." Ryo stared at Childra

and Ishido. "You don't look like anyone I know. How are you

related to Ranma?"

"Never met the guy until today... I think." Ishido

said.

"I know his ghost, and the body he possesses." Childra

stared back at Ryo. "Why do you ask that?"

"I know I have at least one would-be half-sister here.

Everyone else who's ever... gone on one of these trips has been

tied to either the Saotome or the Tendou families."

Childra shrugged, but her eyes never left Ryo's face.

He'd almost let something slip there, something he didn't want

to share. "Well, I guess this time is different." She smiled

at her own pun. "So you've crossed dimensions before, huh?"

"More than I would have liked." Ryo could tell she was

probing for information. He did his best to give her as little

as possible.

"How'd you get picked to be a time-traveller?"

"I didn't get, 'picked.' It was blind luck."

"So you're not an archaeologist or historian?"

"No, I'm a cook and an apprentice healer."

"When the time comes, can you get us home?"

"I think so. I sent... everyone else got where they

needed to go. As for, 'when,' as soon as possible would be

best. Time travel only causes pain."

"I'm not so sure about that," Childra said. "So far it

seems like fun. And the opportunity of a lifetime."

"You haven't seen your father in love with another

woman," Ryo countered hotly.

"Do we have to go home?" Ishido broke in. "I'd rather

stay here."

"We're all going back," Ryo said flatly. "As soon as I

find out where to go, we're gone."

"So you _are_ in control of the chronal displacement,"

said Childra.

[Stupid, stupid, stupid Ryo! If I keep this up, she'll

find out everything.] "Yes, you could say that, but don't get

any ideas. This is no game. Worlds are at stake." The

pig-tailed boy tried to make his face an expressionless mask.

He'd managed to hid secrets from Tachi before, and the heir to

the House of Kuno was almost as inquisitive as his mother..

"I think you're overreacting," Childra countered. "The

Department of Exploratory History never makes such a big deal

out of time-jumps."

"I know what I'm talking about," Ryo shouted, "and if

you'd seen Shutaro Saotome, you'd understand!" Ryo paused, then

ran a hand through his hair. "Look, I'm sorry I snapped at you,

but I'm adamant about this. I'm not going to tell anyone the

secrets of time travel, and as soon as I can, I'm going to

destroy it."

"That would be a waste," Childra said softly.

Ryo shoved his hands in his pockets. "That's my decision."

"If you say so." Childra smiled to herself. The boy

had been a tough nut to crack, but in the end, he'd told her

everything she needed to know. He crossed between dimensions by

way of an artifact, and he was carrying it in his front right

pocket...

The End, Act I

Annotations for Act 1

"Ryo, Tachi Kuno, and Ranko Saotome stepped out of thin air..." Ryo Saotome, Tachi Kuno, Ranko Saotome, and the magic locket are from Ross McKenzie's "Descents and Inversions". - "Ratiko Hibiki paced back and forth..." Reiraku "Ratiko" Hibiki &amp; Childra Jansen are from Chris Willmore's "Ranma 2096" - "Miyabi Saotome tugged at the apron she was wearing..." Miyabi Saotome is from Caroline Seawright's "Ranma Nibunnoichi". - "Ishido knew he was in trouble..." Ishido Takashima is from Kevin Eav's "The Way Things Are". - "A fruit bat tangled itself in Ryo's hair..." Ratiko Hibiki has been cursed with the 'Spring of drowned female fruitbat' - Miyabi still looked confused, _Miyabi uses the term 'mum' instead of 'mom' primarily because her creator, an Australian, insisted on it. _


	2. Chapter 2

Act 2

What has happened so far:

In an alternate reality where Ranma married Shampoo, their daughter had

somehow obtained a magic locket that allowed her to cross dimensions.

A few accidents later, several of Ranma's 'children' from various realities ended up in one reality, where Ranma was still a teen-age youth. One amongst them, Ryo Saotome (son of Ranma and Ukyou) managed to get a hold of the locket before Cologne was about to do something devious with it.

After his victory, he sent all the displaced sons and daughters of Ranma &amp; company to their proper realities, and then prepared to go home himself.

Something, however, went wrong. He ended up in a bizarre version of

Tokyo in 2096 and accidentally dragged along Ratiko Hibiki and Childra

Jansen in his attempt to fix this mistake. That attempt dragged him to

two other realities with amazing speed. From them, he accidentally

brought Miyabi, daughter of Ranma and Akane, and Ishido, a mysterious

amnesiac hunted by a shadowy organisation.

Finally, they stopped in a reality where Ranma &amp; co. were still teens,

but had never met them before. And now...

Converging Series

Act II: Touring

She had a suspicion of the whos and hows of her little trip

through time. Now, all Childra needed was to get... whatever it was...

from the Saotome boy. Imagine! No more applying to the Ministry, going

through their piles of paperwork, then waiting a year for an eight-hour

trip... Instead, she'd have the power at her fingertips, to go to any

time she chose! She could see Alexandria in its prime, or witness

Pickett's charge at Gettysburg... She could do anything! But she needed an excuse to get her hands into Ryo's pants...

Hm...

Ryo shook his head tiredly.

"Excuse me... I need to be alone to sort things out. All these

'would-be's that I keep into jumping into, and all these half-siblings...

Shutaro, Miyabi..." He sighed. "You'd think I'd be used to it by now,

but..."

"Go ahead, big boy," said Childra. "Take all the time you need..."

[Just be sure it's long enough for me to figure out how to get that

time-travel thingie from you...] Ryo left into an adjacent room.

Childra turned to Ishido, and smiled seductively.

"Looks like we're alone now, lobishomem*." She glanced back. "And

Ryo was kind enough to close the door behind him... I don't suppose you

have any plans for tonight?" Wink.

*[This means, 'werewolf' in Portuguese. Childra is a polyglot,

remember.]

"But... I..." Ishido began to sweat. He obviously wasn't used to

this kind of... attention... The poor dear... "I don't know if I should, I

mean..."

"I thought you couldn't REMEMBER if you had a girlfriend..."

"That's just it! I can't remember... I can barely remember WHO I

am, and..." He shook his head and gave up.

"What? You're saying I'm not good enough for you?" Ishido

straightened up. Lovely boy. So chivalrous.

"No! Of course not! I mean..." He turned his face down to avoid

looking at Childra's eyes. This proved to be a mistake. Blushing, he

redirected his gaze to a nearby flower-pot.

"Looks an awful lot like you're trying to avoid looking at me. Too

painful? Am I _that_ ugly?" Childra breathed in deeply. This was even

more fun than going to the undergrad pub on a Thursday...

"No! I... You're very pretty... You're beautiful, in fact..."

"Thank-you." Smile.

"But I... I'm just not ready yet... At least not until I get my

life back together again. Until I _know_ whose life it IS that I'm getting

back together again..."

"I see..." Oh, well... Another night with no fun. She'd quite

forgotten how prudish they were a century ago. Never mind. The harder the

hunt, the more delectable the banquet that followed. "So, if we're not

going to... be together, what do you propose to do for the evening?"

"I need to take a walk... Clear things up... Think about what's

happened... So many things have been going on at once, and they've

followed so closely on each other's heels, that I've barely been able to

take a breath, let alone try to make sense of it all."

"I understand. Wanna go now?"

"I need to be alone." Childra put on the cutest pout she could

come up with.

"And what am _I_ supposed to do?"

"Well, you're a historian, aren't you? Look around! I mean,

Ranma's upstairs, and..."

"But _he's_ engaged to Akane."

"I MEANT, you could interview him. Or something."

"Oh."

"Anyway, there's plenty of people to talk to. You shouldn't have

any trouble finding something to do. As for me... Well, I just need to

take a walk. Alone. OK?"

Childra nodded. Ishido turned and left out the front door.

Ryouga wandered through the streets of Nerima. Nerima. He had

almost despaired of ever seeing it again, after that fateful afternoon

when he'd set out to buy a loaf of bread and a jug of milk at the corner

store, and his supernaturally bad sense of direction had made him take a

slight detour into Egypt... One thing had led to another, and he had

wandered the continents, alone and desolate, for months. Everywhere he

stopped, he'd ask, "Where is the Tendo dojo?" His question would usually

be greeted with confused or angry looks, since few people outside of Japan

spoke Japanese... That same linguistic barrier made it impossible to get

directions. Anyone else would have given up, but Ryouga was used to this,

and thoughts of his beloved Akane held him steady in his purpose. Today,

his perseverance bore its fruits, and he once more found himself in Tokyo.

No more uncertainty, no more madness. Now, he was back to the one place

that he could call 'home', and he would...

"Great-gramps! Great-gramps!" Ryouga's meditation was interrupted

by the appearance of a young black-haired man, running towards him at full

speed. That, in itself, was no cause for alarm. People ran towards (and

away from) him all the time. However, this particular young man was

sopping wet, and wearing nothing but a red bandanna.

"Do I... Know you?" he asked the stranger, trying to keep his eyes

on his face. The boy nodded enthusiastically.

"I'm your great-grandson." Ryouga blinked. He hadn't heard THAT

one before...

"You're... What?"

"Your great-grandson. Hibiki Ratiko. I'm from the future, and I

need your help."

"Riiiight..." There HAD to be a reasonable explanation for this.

Ryouga tried to remember. Was there a psychiatric hospital nearby? This

was probably an escaped inmate...

"You... You don't believe me?!" This 'Ratiko' seemed genuinely

surprised.

"You look about eighteen..."

"Twenty-two, actually."

"I'm sixteen. How many sixteen-year-olds do you know with twenty-

two-year-old great-grandsons?"

"I told you, I'm from the FUTURE!" Ordinarily, anyone who spoke to

Ryouga in that tone of voice would have become an umbrella shish-ka-bob,

but the 'eternal lost boy' was feeling benevolent after having found his

way back. Besides, this could prove... entertaining...

"My great-grandson, you say?"

"Hai." Ryouga looked him over.

"Heh. I don't think so... Any descendant of MINE would be in MUCH

better shape. Look at you!" He poked the sides of Ratiko's waist. "Flab,

flab, and more flab! How DARE you call yourself a HIBIKI?" The boy's face

fell from happiness into an anguished frown, while Ryouga tried to keep

from laughing. Might as well play it for all it was worth...

"But... My study... I.. No time..."

"Speak up! Or can't you? My, my... A Hibiki who can't say what he

means? Ha! Besides, my great-grandson, I'm sure, would be able to afford

some CLOTHES, and wouldn't be running around, wet and naked, with..."

Ryouga stopped. Something was wrong. Something was VERY wrong. His

would-be relative had started... Glowing... "Er..." He pointed at the

bright aura surrounding Ratiko. "You're... uh..."

"I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU'RE DOING THIS TO ME!" Ryouga's world went

white. When his vision recovered, he saw that all the concrete, grass and

trees for a radius of twenty metres had been charred.

"What... What was THAT?" Ratiko smirked.

Ratiko looked at the ground with a reddened face, kicking up dust.

"Well... I... That kind of thing's been happening lately, whenever

I get angry or depressed; it used to be I'd just get a fever, but it's

been growing, and"

"Angry or depressed?" asked Ryouga. [Could it be some kind of

weird version of the Shishi Houkodan? Then...]

"You really ARE my great-grandson..." he said quietly. "Only one

of my descendants could..." Realisation. "Wait. You say you have a bad

sense of direction?" Ratiko nodded.

"Well, I don't need a plane ticket to go on a vacation to

Jamaica." Ryouga nodded solemnly. He knew the feeling all too well.

"We need to talk," said Ryouga.

"Hai." said Ratiko. "I have a lot to say."

"But first, you'd better get dressed. What happened to you?"

"Let's just say it involves Ranma and Jusenkyo."

"Jusenkyo? And... And RANMA?" Ryouga's eyes widened. "Why,

THAT..."

"The clothes, great-gramps?"

"Oh." The lost boy took off his knapsack and pulled out a

duplicate to the outfit he was wearing. Ratiko quickly put it on.

"Perfect fit!" he said.

"Now, tell me what Ranma did? Are you also cursed?"

"Hai. It's a long story. We'll need a comfortable place to talk."

Ryouga motioned to some benches a short way away, and the pair walked over

to them and sat down.

"Well," started Ratiko, "It's like this..."

`"...and so, thanks to Saotome, my life has become a living HELL!" Ratiko

broke down, sobbing, and was soon joined by his great- grandfather.

"Curse you, Ranma!" said the elder Hibiki, while tears gushed down

his cheeks. "Isn't it enough to torment ME? Must you also persecute my

PROGENY?!"

"And that's not all... I have seen the inside of a POT!"

Ryouga blinked.

"What?"

"I have seen the inside of a POT!"

"That's what I thought you said."

"That crone, Shampoo, tried to steam me with wild mushrooms!"

"I didn't know she was a cannibal..." Ratiko face-faulted.

"In my cursed form, great-gramps," he said.

"What? You TOO?! Then Shampoo also..." Ryouga's tears evaporated

from the heat of his anger. "Those two are in league against our family!

Curse you, Ranma! Curse you, Shampoo!"

"Curse you, Ranma and Shampoo!" they said together, shaking their

fists at the heavens. Once again, Ratiko began to glow.

"Er... Great-grandson?"

"Yes?"

"I think you'd better... Calm down..."

"Huh?"

"You're glowing."

"Oh." The boy closed his eyes and relaxed, and the aura around him

dimmed into nothingness.

"That reminds me... There's something I should teach you," said

Ryouga.

"What's that?"

"One of my special attacks, the 'Shishi Houkodan'. You already

have the basics, but you can't control it..."

"No kidding... You wouldn't BELIEVE what I had to pay the Church

of Kodachi after blowing up one of their rooms..."

Ryouga's eyes widened.

"CHURCH of... KODACHI?!"

Ratiko sighed.

"Long story."

Ryouga nodded.

"This 2096 of yours sounds dangerous."

"It's been getting more so since that blasted jock came back to

life!"

"All the more reason why I should teach you the attack. You

haven't learned any martial arts, and I won't allow one of my descendants

to run around defenceless, with Ranma on the loose!"

"Thank-you, great-grandfather!"

"I will train you tonight. A few hours should be enough.

Tomorrow, I'll go to the dojo and spar with Saotome. He'll pay for what

he's done to us, I SWEAR!"

"Where, exactly, will you fight with him, great-gramps?"

"Gomen?"

"I want to watch."

" It'll be in the dojo's garden. There's plenty of places for you

to hide and watch, there."

"Will you knock him unconscious?"

"Of course!"

Ratiko smiled to himself. This was good... It would be a cinch to

kill Ranma. Once great-gramps knocked him out, he'd simply use Childra's

machete to slit his throat... Hmm... There was still the matter of Akane's

suicide... How could he get her to... Miyabi. Of course. If anything

could drive little Miss Tendo to suicide, it would be her own daughter

killing her fiance. All he needed was some biological evidence to

plant...

Ryo fingered the locket.

"Sometimes I wish I could just..." He took it out of his pocket,

and raised his arm as if to throw it out into the street, but then thought

better of it and put it back. "I still need it. I wish I didn't, but...

If I ever want to see Bell-Chan..." He sighed.

Childra watched from behind a half-opened door.

[So THAT'S what's behind all this...] she thought. [How could such

a little object generate all that power? Never mind... So long as it

works... Now, as how to get it from him. Let's see... Ishido's still on

that walk, Miyabi's upstairs, Deity knows WHERE Rat is... Probably

Europe... And I _still_ need an excuse to get my hands in Ryo's pants

pocket.] A smile crossed her lips. [He _is_ cute... A bit uptight, but

cute.]

Childra opened the door fully, and cleared her throat. Ryo quickly

took his hands out of his pockets.

"Who's there?"

"Just me, dear. Childra."

"Oh. Well, what is it?"

"Do I have to have a _reason_ for wanting to see you?"

"No... I suppose not... I take it you're here to interrogate me

about my reality's history?"

"No."

"Then... What? I would've thought you'd be off looking up all the

people you keep on telling us later became famous... The Kuno mansion's

just a little waise away, and then there's Nabiki, and..."

"Screw them!" she said.

"ALREADY?!"

Childra smiled. He'd even set the mood for her.

"I didn't mean it that way, darling..." Then, in a silky voice,

"Otherwise, I would have said, 'Screw YOU'..." Wink. Several hundred

capillaries in Ryo's nose suddenly burst at once.

"Childra? What? I..."

Before he could figure out what was going on, she pressed herself

against him and began to run her fingers up his leg. Ryo's eyes widened,

and after a little initial resistance, his muscles relaxed. Childra made a

mental note: [Gotta remember to do this sometime when I'm NOT trying to

steal a time-travel artefact from the lad.] Nimbly, she worked her way up

his thighs and to his waist, then put her hands into his pockets. He began

to protest, and she kissed him fully on the lips to silence him. By this

time, Ryo's eyes were halfway out of their sockets, and his skin was the

same shade of red as onna-Ranma's hair. [And now, for the artefact...] A

startled gasp from Ukyou's son. [Oops. Grabbed the wrong bulge.] She

searched some more, until... [Finally! Got it! Now, how am I going to...]

"YOU HENTAI! I CAN'T BELIEVE IT! HOW COULD ANYONE BE SO

PERVERTED?!"

Miyabi appeared at the top of the stairs.

[Perfect timing.] Childra took the opportunity to disengage

herself. Locket in hand, of course.

"I guess it wasn't enough for you to grope ME! Seems you also have

to go after OLDER women... Geeze... What a sick-o... And to think that

I'd actually changed my mind about you..."

Each of Miyabi's words struck Ryo like a knife. He shrank back at

them, and by the end was close to tears.

"Bell-Chan..." he muttered. "I'm so sorry... How could I ever..."

"And as for YOU..." Akane's daughter glared at Childra. "I haven't

seen a bigger SLUT in... AAAAARRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHH!" Something flew through

the open window and ploughed through Miyabi's dress, tearing both the

cloth and her flesh.

"Miyabi!" shouted Ryo, bounding up the stairs.

"What was THAT?" asked Childra.

"It looked like a bat..." said Ryo.

"A BAT?"

Ryo was too busy to answer. He tore a strip of cloth from the

girl's damaged skirt and used it to bandage her leg. Miyabi grit her

teeth, trying to ignore the pain.

A brief knock, and then the front door opened. It was Ratiko.

Apart from his habitual red bandanna, he was wearing a yellow blouse made

out of coarse cloth, fastened around his waist with a black sash, and

equally dark baggy pants.

"So, anything exciting happen while I left you all alone?" he

asked.

"Miyabi here's been hurt," said Childra. "She was attacked by a

bat. You wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would you, RAT?"

"Wasn't me! I've been out training with great-gramps!"

"Great-gramps?" No... It couldn't be... "You actually found Ryouga

Hibiki?" Ratiko pointed at the clothes he was wearing. "Oh." Childra

started a quick mental calculation of the chances of two Hibikis bumping

into each other, but gave up when she reached 10^-32:1...

"You say she was attacked by a BAT?" asked Ratiko.

"Hai," said Ryo, pausing for a minute from bandaging Miyabi's leg.

"You ARE kind, for a hentai," admitted Miyabi.

"Arigato, imouto."

Miyabi smiled.

"Some bats have rabies," said Ratiko.

"Huh?" asked Childra.

"Rabies. Hydrophobia. Nasty disease; quite the killer, if not

detected early..."

"Well, what should we do?" asked Ryo.

"Miyabi should have a blood test. Now." Ratiko said firmly.

"Just one problem, Rat. Doc Tofu's not here right now, and if

Kasumi's still with 'im, it wouldn't do any good, even if he were," said

Childra. Everyone present shuddered at the thought of a love-drunk Tofu

handling a sharp needle.

"No problem!" said Ratiko. "I _am_ a 3rd-year pre-med student..."

"YOU want to take the blood test?" asked Childra. Something was

very funny here, but she couldn't put her finger on exactly WHAT.

"Yep. Anything for a nice girl like Makimba."

"Miyabi."

"Whatever."

"Um... Rat?" asked Childra. "Have you ever actually DONE a blood

test before?"

"Well, not on a PERSON, no... But I've practised on THOUSANDS of

grapefruits!" Everyone face-faulted. "Look. We've got to do this NOW,

and I'm the only one available with the required knowledge. At worst,

it'll hurt for a minute or two. What do you say?"

"All right. Go ahead," said Miyabi.

"Great!"

"Uh, Rat?" asked Childra. "Exactly WHERE are you going to get the

syringes and testing chemicals from?"

"Oh, I have them right here!" he pulled a brown paper bag from

inside his blouse.

"You carry _syringes_ around with you on a regular basis?" Childra

raised an eyebrow. She wasn't sure she wanted to know...

"Well, er... uh... um..." Ratiko stammered. "You know how it is;

being back in an uncivilised time, and all... You can never be too

careful!"

"Uh-huh. Right..." Curiouser and Curiouser, thought Childra.

"Hey! I don't want to DIE here of some weird antique disease! Of

COURSE I'll keep a stock of basic medicines and tests for the nastier

things!"

Self-preservation. Now, THAT sounded like the Reiraku SHE

knew. [Guess time travel must've knocked him up, so he's being more

paranoid than usual... Figures.]

"Ratiko?" asked Ryo. "Aren't you supposed to test the ANIMAL,

rather than the PERSON? I thought I'd heard that somewhere..."

Ratiko began to sweat. Odd. Childra didn't think it was THAT

hot...

"Oh, it hasn't been done that way in YEARS!" he said. "The latest

technique is to test the PERSON. Much faster, simpler, and cheaper if

you use the right thing..."

"But, Rat, there ISN'T any rabies in 2096. We wiped it out."

"All the more reason it hasn't been done that way in years, ne?"

Childra face-faulted.

"Well, get ON with it! While you guys are talking, this pervert's

getting a kick out of fondling my leg!"

"I am not..." Ryo began to protest, but was interrupted by a slap

from Akane's daughter.

"I needed him out of the way, anyway," said Ratiko as he went up

the stairs. He pulled out his syringe. "This might sting a bit." Miyabi

nodded. With an alcohol pad, he wiped the general area of the wound, then

searched for a viable vein. When he found one, he quickly pricked it with

the needle, eliciting only a slight gasp from Miyabi. He plugged a test

tube into the back of the needle, and filled it with crimson blood, then

capped it off and withdrew the syringe, wiping the site once again with

alcohol. Childra blinked.

"That actually looked... Professional..."

Ratiko smiled.

"Told ya I'd practised."

"How long will the test take?" asked Ryo.

"Oh, just a few seconds, said Ratiko." I'll need to go to the

kitchen to do it. Where is it?" Miyabi pointed in the right direction,

and Ratiko began to head off...

"Just a sec, Rat. If this is urgent, I'd better go with you to

make sure you don't end up in Russia..." She walked up to him and took

him by the hand.

The Tendo kitchen was clean and well-kept, so there was no

difficulty in finding a clear spot where Rat could perform his test. He

pulled out a few strips of pink paper from the brown bag, then uncorked

the test tube holding the blood, and immersed of the pieces in it.

"Rat? Isn't that LITMUS PAPER?"

"Er... I didn't know you knew about medicine..."

"I don't, but I had to take Chem in my first year. I don't

remember much else, but I DO remember the labs, and THAT'S LITMUS PAPER."

"Of course it is! See?" He pulled a strip out. "Basic blue.

Great. No rabies."

"Run that by me again?"

"Um... The rabies bug turns the blood acidic almost immediately...

Normally, blood's a buffer, so it's pH is neutral to slightly basic. If

she'd gotten rabies, the paper would be red, not blue."

"I thought rabies tests took a long time and were rather

expensive... How come YOU can do it so quickly?" Something was up, and

Childra didn't like having the wool pulled over her eyes.

"Well... I guess... Probably no one's ever thought of doing it

before?"

"Rat; you're hiding something from me, and I don't like it. Spit

it out."

"Hiding? I'm not hiding ANYTHING!"

Ryo called from the living room.

"Is everything all right in there?"

"Yep," answered Ratiko. "Just finished the test. Be out in a

minute."

Childra frowned. Rat wasn't going to tell her anything willingly;

that much was clear. She'd just have to ride it out and see what he let

slip. And he _would_ let it slip, eventually. Men were careless that

way.

"Well, then, I guess you're right."

"I AM?!"

"Yup. Well, lad, let's get going. They're waitin' for us

outside!" Ratiko looked very confused. Good. He'd be off guard. The

Hibiki picked up the medical miscellanea and stuffed it back into his

brown bag, then the pair exited back into the living room.

"That was quick," said Ryo. "I suppose a hundred years from now

medicine must be a lot more effective..."

"Apparently..." said Childra, eyeing Ratiko suspiciously.

"Well, what were the results?" asked Miyabi anxiously.

"Good news," said Ratiko. "No rabies."

"That's great!" said Miyabi.

"We'd better get back to Dr. Tofu's so he can look at the leg,

though, and maybe confirm the test," said Ryo. Ratiko looked hurt. "It's

not that we don't trust you, Rat, but if she _does_ have rabies..." Ratiko

nodded.

"You're SURE you want to see the doc with Kasumi around?" asked

Childra.

"Oh, Auntie Kasumi can do it herself, if she has to. She's quite

the nurse!" said Miyabi. Ratiko was looking jumpy.

"I, uh... Probably should go train..." he said.

"Train in WHAT?" asked Childra.

"Great-gramps taught me a few things that I want to practice..."

"Such as?"

"Well, there's some special attacks, and..." He paused. "Could I

borrow your machete?" [More and more suspicious...] thought Childra.

"Why do you want it?"

"Great-gramps is teaching me how to fence..."

"Uncle Ryouga doesn't use a sword!" said Miyabi.

"Well, he's, er..." A pause. "He's teaching me with the umbrella,

but thinks that I should use a sword, instead, since I'm not strong

enough to really hurt anyone, otherwise."

"I don't know about that," said Ryo. "In my experience, umbrellas

can be quite dangerous..."

"That goes for long pointy objects in general," agreed Childra.

"Well? Could I borrow it? I'd give it back tomorrow afternoon..."

"I suppose... Just be sure not to point it at anyone, OK?"

"OK."

Childra reached behind her back and pulled out a machete with a

carved wooden handle, then handed it to Ratiko. Ryo blinked.

"That... Wasn't there before..." he said. Childra grinned.

"You haven't seen Akane use her mallet, have you, lad?" Ryo

nodded.

"Actually," he said, "I have."

"Well, then. If she can stuff a two-foot wooden hammer in her

leotards without making a noticeable bulge, I can put a machete in between

my shirt and jacket."

"Point taken," acknowledged Ryo.

"Mum... In a LEOTARD?" asked Miyabi.

"Never mind. Long story."

"I'll be going now," said Ratiko. "I want to start before it gets

too dark."

"There's street lights all over town, Rat."

"I... I like the sunlight better. It's got a nicer spectrum."

"Exactly HOW hard did Ranma smash you against that tree?"

"I'll be... uh... um... Bye!" He dashed out the door.

"Strange boy," said Ryo. Childra and Miyabi nodded their

agreement.

Ratiko smiled to himself. So far, so good. He had the cloth

sample, the blood and the machete. Now all he needed was to hide these in

front of the dojo until Ryouga pounded Ranma unconscious the following

day... He looked around. Not much. A few bushes, some grass, a tree...

The tree looked promising. He examined it, and soon found a small

nook which would be perfect for his purposes. Right now it was a bit

small, though. Maybe if he worked at it with Childra's machete...

As luck would have it, just as Rat began the enlargement, Ishido

returned from his walk. The Hibiki quickly hid the weapon behind his back

and pushed the 'evidence' into an inconspicuous position with his foot.

"So, Ishtar, how have you been?" he began to sweat quite visibly.

"My name is Ishido. I think..."

"Ok, then, Ishido... Been having a nice time?" Anything to stop

him from noticing the samples...

"Not really... I've tried to remember my past life, but whenever I

try to piece it together, all I get are fleeting glimpses, still

pictures... It's SO FRUSTRATING!"

"No luck, eh?" Rat took the opportunity to move the brown bag a

bit further back.

"Well, not much... There is _ONE_ person I remember more clearly

than others... Unfortunately, he's not the kind of person I _want_ to

remember."

"Do tell..." Until now, Ratiko hadn't realised how tiring it was

to hold a blade aloft...

"Even now, I don't remember much... Just that there's some sort of

violent maniac... Kind of a sado-psychopath... He's quite a bitter

character... Fights with an... Umbrella, I believe..."

"An umbrella?" Ratiko perked up. "Like Ryouga?" Ishido grinned.

"I wouldn't make that comparison to his face. When I left, he was

trying to KILL Ryouga."

"WHAT?!" The machete clattered to the ground. Ishido pointed

at it.

"I think you just dropped a..." Before he could finish his

sentence, Ratiko rushed to him and shook him by the shoulders.

"WE'VE GOT TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT! YOU CAN'T LET THEM KILL

GREAT-GRAMPS! THEN I'LL... YOU CAN'T!"

"Calm down! It's in another timeline, remember? And I have NO

idea how to get back there (never mind the fact that I don't know if I

_want_ to go back...) No need to get so excited..."

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN, NO NEED?" Ratiko continued to shake Ishido.

"DON'T YOU REALIZE THAT..."

Just then, Childra stepped out of the dojo, fingering something in

her left pocket.

"Oh, good," she said. "You're still here. I meant to ask you

a..."

"CHILDRA! IT'S HORRIBLE!" Ratiko rushed to Childra and grabbed her

shoulders, which he then proceeded to shake. "RYOUGA'S GOING TO BE KILLED

BY SOME MANIAC, AND WE CAN'T STOP IT!"

"Just a minute!" said Ishido. "It's one thing when you bother ME

like that, but to do that to Childra..." He walked over to the pair, to

separate them. He never made it. There was a blue glow, and all three of

them disappeared.

Somewhere out there, there's a Ryo, Miyabi, Ratiko, Childra, and

Ishido that went on with their lives, never disrupted by temporal and

dimensional displacement, living normally (as normally as they could).

These weren't those people.

In some realities out there, Ryouga was killed, during an epic

battle atop a bridge, and forever remembered and missed by his friends.

This was that kind of a reality.

Well, it was supposed to be.

Things change.

On a long-spanning concrete bridge over a waterway in Tokyo, two

figures faced off. In the distance, storm-clouds were rolling in and the

sound of thunder from a distance echoed in. At the ends of the bridge,

crowds watched expectantly. Many of them were just observers, quite a few

of them were placing bets with Nabiki, and a few had personal interests.

Ranma, Akane, and Ukyou looked on, hoping that Ryouga's adversary wasn't

as dangerous as he was rumoured to be.

Ryouga stood silently, waiting for his adversary to make the first

move. Ryouga's mind, however wasn't silent. He was still reeling, deep in

his mind, from when Akane and Ranma finally became an official couple...

and then there was Ukyou's good-luck kiss tugging at the edge of his mind

as well. And then that... *brr* that kiss that Ranma-chan gave him...

The last few months had been strange already, and Ryouga had a bad feeling

about today.

"Good day, Hibiki!" Ryouga's adversary said some distance across

from the bridge. He was, at a glance, Gosunkugi. However, the better

posture, menacing smirk, and psychotic tendencies quickly alerted anyone

that this wasn't Nerima's resident wimp &amp; wizard that they were dealing

with. He did a little salute with his own umbrella, an obsidian one of

European design, with a hook-end handle and an inch-long blade at the end.

Ryouga nodded cautiously and replied, "Muhoshin."

"CHILDRA! ITS HORRIBLE!" Ratiko rushed to Childra and grabbed her

shoulders, which he then proceeded to shake. "RYOUGA'S GOING TO BE KILLED

BY A MANIAC, AND WE CANT STOP IT!"

"Just a minute!" said Ishido. "It's one thing when you bother ME

like that, but to do that to Childra..." He walked over to the pair, to

separate them. He never made it. There was a blue glow, and all three of

them disappeared.

For the four of them, the world suddenly became blurry. Ratiko,

Ishido and Childra were taken entirely by surprise. Ratiko, however, had

an idea of where he wanted to go (he just didn't know that he was going to

go there). He wanted to stop a psychopath from killing his

great-grandfather.

He assumed that this psychopath WOULD be successful in killing

his Great-grandfather... that is, unless he interfered.

As the old saying goes, you get what you ask for.

Ryouga winced and stepped back quickly, feeling the cut on his

face. He felt the rage building up inside him... being made a fool of in

front of Ranma, in front of Akane... in front of Ukyou! HOW DARE HE!

"That's it.. TAKE THIS!" Ryouga snapped his umbrella open and spun

it hard. He charged at Muhoshin, swinging fast and furiously, his

umbrella whirling like a buzz-saw and sending sparks everywhere. Muhoshin

dodged desperately and retreated a few steps.

And then saw a chance at an opening. Ryouga swung his makeshift

buzz-saw-umbrella towards Muhoshin, but this time he didn't retreat.

Muhoshin rolled forward, _past_ the whirling edge of the umbrella, hooked

Ryouga's leg with his umbrella handle, pulled, knocking Ryouga off his

feet, and turned the umbrella's blade forward, towards Ryouga's heart.

Meanwhile, Ryouga's ultra-heavy umbrella spun away, out of control.

Muhoshin grabbed Ryouga by the throat with one hand, and held his

umbrella with the other, ready to put an end to the lost boy's existence.

Suddenly, there was a bright flash of light and he was blinded...

Childra blinked. Her surroundings were suddenly very different.

She was outside the Tendou doujou, and now she was apparently in the middle

of a bridge. There seemed to be a crowd of people in the distance. She

turned and looked at Ratiko straight in the eye, definitely annoyed.

"Ratiko, look what you've done now," she said in a condescending voice.

"What?"

Muhoshin reflexively winced and shut his eyes as the flash of

light struck, and that proved to be his undoing. Ryouga took advantage of

his hesitation and lunged forward with one hand, grabbing Muhoshin's

throat. He kept Muhoshin's umbrella away with the other.

Ishido was alarmed. "Not again," he muttered, looking around

nervously while Ratiko and Ishido were beginning to argue. He was afraid

that he might've been brought back to his own reality... where _they_ were

after him.

"Whaddaya mean Look What You've Done Now? How's it my fault?!"

yelled Ratiko. "HOW THE HECK DID WE GET HERE ANYWAYS?" Ratiko started to

glow just a little.

"Ah... Ratiko, calm down..."

Ishido heard the sounds of battle nearby, and turned around...

*WHAM*

... and got a titanium-weight umbrella in the skull. Ishido

stumbled forward, severely dazed and bordering on unconscious.

Muhoshin was slowly loosing air, feeling his neck being crushed by

Ryouga's hand. He crushed Ryouga's throat with his own hand, and it became

a race to see who would lose consciousness first.

"Ishido!" Childra caught him as he fell. "What happened to him?"

Ratiko shrugged.

Amazingly, they failed to notice the two individuals several yards

away trying to kill each other. They might be excused because the two

people were at the moment on the floor and choking each other, but it was

still something a bit hard to miss.

Muhoshin was losing and he knew it. Ryouga was turning just a

little blue, but he was ten seconds away from unconsciousness. To his

surprise, Ryouga let go of his throat. Unfortunately for him, Ryouga's fist

pounded into his body, sending a shock-wave of pain through his gut. He

let go of Ryouga's throat and then tried to drive a finger into his eye.

Ryouga turned his head and Muhoshin missed, making a small hole in the

concrete instead. He pulled his hand back again and punched down hard.

This time he felt something snap under his fist. Ryouga yelled in pain,

grabbed him by the shirt, and threw him away, _hard_.

Childra tried to keep Ishido on his feet. "Ishido! Wake up!"

"Wha... wazza..." Ishido managed to stagger to his feet, but he

had an enormous headache and the world seemed to be in triplicate.

"What... what was..." Then there was The Sound.

The Sound was incredibly loud, really. And also hard to explain.

Nothing quite expresses the sound of two skulls colliding. Take two

coconuts and thump them together, hard.

It isn't quite the same, but it comes close.

Childra gasped as Ishido's skull was suddenly impacted by someone

else's. They both collapsed to the floor, looking incredibly dazed. "Oh

my."

[Time to leave] she thought to herself.

She was disturbed at how sensitive the artefact seemed to be.

Ratiko just came up in a panic and suddenly they phased into another

reality. _That_ was not reassuring to her. The locket seemed to be

wavering in sensitivity... as if it was somewhat unstable. But for now,

there were more pressing matters to address.

[Well] thought Childra [might as well go somewhere I'm familiar

with first, and besides, lover-boy looks like he needs some medical

attention.]

Childra focused, hard.

For Childra, Ratiko, and one very dazed Ryo Muhoshin, the world

became a blur. It didn't matter to Ishido, he was unconscious.

"Y'know, It still surprises me..." said Miyabi as she walked

through Nerima towards the Tendou home.

"What does?" asked Ryo.

"The way Uncle Tofu acts around Auntie Kasumi. No matter how many

times I see it, it's just so weird."

"Doesn't he always act that way?" asked Kasumi.

"Um, actually, he's a lot different when you're not there," said

Miyabi. "Less... hyper, I guess."

"That's what Akane always tells me," said Kasumi.

Ryo laughed. Visiting Doctor Tofu just reminded him of Bell-chan,

and he walked along in better spirits, feeling that maybe they'd get

everything sorted out tonight without incident. Then he could go back to

her, and _never_ leave her again.

He dug into his pocket and felt...

An empty space where the locket should have been.

Ryo's eyes went wide with shock.

"Oh HELL!"

Miyabi backed away from Ryo, startled at his sudden outburst.

"What the heck's wrong with you now?!"

Ryo checked his other pocket, then his back pockets, then felt

around his shirt.

"It's gone! Dammit!"

It should be noted that Kasumi was perfectly calm during this

entire exchange.

"What's gone?"

"THE LOCKET! DAMN!" He'd been able to be calm so far. But

this... this was a giant step backwards. He was angry at himself, mad as

hell. Images of Bell-chan ran through his mind... years and realities

away. He clenched his fists angrily, feeling all the frustration of the

past several days surge back up.

Before Miyabi could ask any further, Ryo blazed down the street as

fast as he could.

"Hey! Wait up!"

"Oh my."

The trees swayed in the breeze

Something large flew across the sky.

Deep in a forest, four people had recently appeared.

Childra watched over Ishido and the new arrival with some concern.

They hadn't stirred in a while.

"Just great, we picked up somebody extra," said Ratiko.

Muhoshin was conscious. He'd been conscious for a while now, but

didn't bother moving. He learned, long ago, that if you want to find out

what's really going on, faking unconsciousness makes people's tongues

relax a bit more (That and a savage beating). Thus far, he concluded three

things. One, that whoever he was in the company of wasn't familiar with

him at all. Two, he wasn't a prisoner. Three, he might be able to use

them.

The situation he found himself in was unexpected and

unexplainable. He _was_ in a duel against Hibiki, and doing quite well,

too. Almost had him. But now... now he was with a strange group of

people deep in some forest. It didn't make sense. The motive behind

these people was unknown, their fighting ability unknown, the possibility

of them being a threat to him was unknown. TOO many unknowns. Strange

things were afoot and he _hated_ that, especially when he wasn't the one

behind the strange things. It brought out the paranoid in him. He

_needed_ information or _else_.

A nice start, he thought, would have been the matter of location.

"Rat?" asked Childra.

"Hm?"

"Where the heck are we now?"

"You're asking me?"

"Oh. I forgot who I was talking to."

That answers that.

"I wonder..." said Childra, "all of us that've been dragged around

have been connected to Ranma in one way or another..."

"And?" asked Ratiko.

"Wonder what this lad's story is... and why he has such an

interesting umbrella." Childra held Muhoshin's umbrella, twirling it

idly.

"Well, he couldn't possibly be from my family," said Ratiko.

"Hibikis aren't skinny and pale."

[Hibiki?] wondered Muhoshin. The only Hibiki he knew of was

Ryouga, and that did NOT sound like Ryouga.

"Doesn't look like a relative of Ranma's either," said Childra.

"Let's take stock of who we DO have so far..."

Muhoshin resisted smiling. Playing dead worked too easy.

Childra wanted to keep Ratiko's mind busy. She didn't want him to

figure out she had their means of transit just yet. Best to toss in some

facts, shake and stir.

"We've got... Ranma's son from a reality where he married

Ukyou..."

Ratiko frowned.

"And a daughter from where he married Akane..."

"Who cares about that jerk..." muttered Ratiko.

[Realities?] wondered Muhoshin.

"Ah, all this jumping between realities is giving me a headache!"

yelled Ratiko.

[Reality-jumping...]

In the distance, a small speck appeared.

"I wonder where we were, anyways..." said Childra.

"I dunno... Ishido was just telling me about... some guy that was

out to kill my great grand-dad."

"Oh? Out to kill Ryouga, hm? Who?"

"I don't remember the name."

[Wait... this 'Ratiko'... _he_ is Ryouga's...?]

In the distance, a small speck got larger, and a bit flatter...

[No, I must've misheard that,] thought Muhoshin.

"What's that?" asked Ratiko.

"Heeey, I think..." said Childra.

He was in the company of delusional maniacs, concluded Muhoshin.

"HEY!" Childra yelled, waving her arms around.

"OVER HERE! OVER HERE!" shouted Ratiko.

[What are they...] Muhoshin couldn't help but peek... and was

stunned.

"Hey you guys, what're you doing out here?" asked a uniformed

person as he hovered nearby on something large, flat, and to Muhoshin's

mind, impossible.

Ryo charged into the house, feeling angry, scared, and frustrated.

"Where is it? Where is it? Damn!" He tore through the house, searching

everywhere for it. He searched through the kitchen, the living room,

under the Shogi board (which somehow didn't disturb Soun and Genma at

all), on the roof...

Miyabi followed in a little later with Kasumi, as Ryo was fishing

around in the pond, waist-deep in water, and definitely panic-stricken.

"Hey, what are you doing?" asked Miyabi.

"Where where where where where where where where..."

Miyabi did what she did when she first met him.

She hit him.

"SNAP OUT OF IT!"

Ryo was frozen in post-slap position. The world was slowly coming

into focus again, in a rational and orderly fashion.

"I... thanks. I needed that."

"Now what's wrong with you?"

"It's just..." Ryo didn't want to tell her the whole truth

just yet. "It's... it's a locket that my fiancee gave me."

"Oh."

"It means a lot to me."

"Really? A gift from her or something?"

"Or something..."

"Need help finding it?"

"Ah... no, that's okay."

"Suit yourself, I'm gonna go talk to mum and dad." As she said

the words, Soun and Genma were to the left and right of her.

"That's right, granddaughter, show your father his fate," said

Soun.

Genma nodded solemnly. "Indeed."

"Er... sure, granddad..."

"I don't believe it..." said Childra.

"Amazing coincidence, isn't it?" asked Ratiko. "Our own time and

only miles off course. A-heheh."

"I was travelling with you. Should've seen it coming." Childra

smirked. Imagine that, landing in the Deep Forest Preserve of the

university.

"You guys really should've been out there," the DFP ranger said.

"It was an accident, really," said Childra.

"Right. Sure."

Childra shrugged. "S'the truth, really."

"Just don't do it again."

Childra ignored him with a style all her own.

The Deep Forest Preserve (DFP) was a grand achievement of the

university, five square miles of deep thick forest outside of Tokyo.

No vehicles were allowed in the preserve, except for the

platform-like hover-mechs, which had specially built feet so as to not

trample the plants and wildlife too much, certainly less harmful than

tires. The thing had enough capacity to carry several large crates (often

crates containing animals brought to the preserve) or a large crowd of

people. For general purposes it hovered, unless it was needed for

construction, pickup, or drop-off, in which case the arms and legs came

into play. Everyone agreed, a nearly flat surface with arms and legs

looked somewhat goofy. The general nickname of the things were

'Table-Mechs'.

The jungle itself was incredibly dense, with very few areas to

walk through. If one tried a casual stroll there, the odds were strong

that that person would get lost. The odds were lower, but still strong,

that one would be mauled by a wild animal as well.

It was a very thorough recreation of the wilderness.

The hover-mech cruised through the jungle, its engines emitting

a somewhat loud, low humming noise. As they travelled across the forest

in the hover-mech, Childra and Ratiko admired the scenery. Ishido and

Muhoshin were settled down, on the floor of the mech.

Ishido was STILL out cold. Ryo had heard them say that this

'Ishido' may have known him, and decided to take appropriate measures

to buy himself some time to set up his story.

Whenever nobody looked, he reached over and slammed Ishido's

skull into the floor. He'd done this already at least... five, maybe

six times. The loud thrum of the engines covered the clang of Ishido's

skull meeting metal very well. He hoped that nobody would notice

the small dent in the floor.

Finally, he decided that it was time to set up his identity.

He'd put a lot of thought into it too.

Oh, this would be good.

"Um, hello?" said a rather timid voice.

Childra and Ratiko turned around, curious at this new voice.

"Er, excuse me? What... what's going on?"

"Oh, you're awake. Good," said Childra.

"Where... where am I? What's going on?" Muhoshin felt he deserved

an award for best actor, as his manner and voice became more and more

panic-stricken and afraid. A very Gosunkugi-ish performance indeed.

"Calm down, take it easy..." said Childra.

"Mum, hello?" Miyabi knocked on Akane's door cautiously. After

seeing her mother's earlier rant, she figured that it'd be best to be a

little careful around her at the moment.

"Oh, um, Miyabi? Come on in!" Akane smiled nervously and looked

at her 'daughter' with a mix of fascination, denial, and curiosity. She

was HER daughter. No, she was HER and RANMA'S daughter. And once she

started thinking along those lines she began to feel very uncomfortable.

Miyabi took a seat on the bed, while Akane stayed seated on her desk

chair.

"I, ah, just wanted to hide from my grandfathers." She smiled

and laughed nervously. "Well, you know..."

Akane laughed along with her daughter. "Yeah, they can get, well,

over-enthusiastic sometimes."

The laughter died down slowly, then the two just sat there,

nervously. Miyabi wasn't sure what to do at all, with this being in the

past and all. She never thought of her mother and father as being

_young_, not ever, but now there they were. And it was so bizarre, yet

fascinating. Akane had some questions of her own, but was afraid to ask

them. Mainly because it had to do with her and Ranma.

After another minute of unbearable silence, Akane made an attempt

at small talk.

"So, ah, how's things in the future?"

"Hm? Oh, it's nice, I guess."

"I guess me and Ranma are running the doujou now?"

"Dad and you, yes."

Akane blushed further, with the question in her mind nagging her

even more.

"So... you have a brother?"

"A few years younger."

"Do you..."

"We get along, I guess." Miyabi neglected to mention the

occasional squabbles that they got into, but why worry mum now?

"Oh, good. That's good."

Miyabi sighed. She didn't know much about time travel, quantum,

and such, but she didn't like seeing her parents fighting like they were

doing now.

"Miyabi."

"Mum?"

"Tell me... tell me about us. Me and Ranma."

Miyabi couldn't help but smile. Things were looking up.

"Yes indeed, granddaughter! Enlighten your mother on the way

things should be!"

Miyabi and Akane blinked. Miyabi looked out to the window, where

Soun and Genma were looking in, and looking very happy as well. Miyabi

turned a shade of red. Was a simple talk with her mother too much to ask?

"Grandfather no bakaaaaa!" *WHAP*WHAP* -splash-splash-

"Oh, I'm so happy!" wailed Soun, filling the fish pond even more

with water. The panda next to him merely growled in agreement.

Evening faded into night, and night faded into morning.

Ryo Saotome, bleary-eyed and exhausted, sat down, out in the doujou.

He'd searched for hours on end, fighting against sleep.

[I HAVE TO find that locket... have to... Bell-chan...]

And for the first time in a long time, Ryo Saotome got some sleep.

"So... let me get this straight. I'm," Muhoshin paused for

dramatic effect, "in the year 2096?"

"Yup," said Ratiko.

"And... I might not be in the same... reality? Is that the

term?" Muhoshin blinked and quickly looked back and forth at Childra and

Ratiko.

Childra nodded impatiently.

"Right. The same reality... that I was in before. And that's

about it."

"That is, basically, it," said Childra.

Muhoshin blinked again.

"Er... right."

The trio continued to glide across the jungle landscape at a

leisurely pace (Fast travelling wasn't allowed. It wrecked the habitat),

enjoying the scenery. Ratiko looked relaxed, now that he was back on home

turf. Childra was inwardly smiling. Not only had she gotten a hold of

the locket, she'd managed to use it properly. Muhoshin was doing an award

winning performance as a nervous, shy, and confused person. In fact, it

was rather Gosunkugi-ish.

It was a second later that Childra realised she didn't even know

this guy's name.

"Hey, cutey," she said.

"Cut that out!" yelled Ratiko.

"I'm not talking to _you_," said Childra, "at least, not this

time." She winked and Ratiko developed an amazingly deep blush. She got

up and walked over to Muhoshin, who was busy absentmindedly looking out at

the scenery. Childra put her hand on his shoulder and said, "Hey there."

Muhoshin blinked. There seemed to be... a woman's hand on his

shoulder. He turned around and nearly ran into her body. "Er... hi?"

"I don't think I've caught your name," she said, smiling in a

certain way that made most men's minds turn to more lusty directions.

"Me? Oh, ah..."

It was at this point that Ryo Muhoshin encountered a weakness he

didn't think he'd have to deal with.

Childra sat next to him. "Don't be shy now..."

He never could deal with a flirtatious woman. He could flirt AT

women just fine, throw out nice, somewhat Kunou-esque pickup lines, but

when they flirted back in normal daily situations...

"M-m-my name?" He tugged his shirt nervously. Don't lose it

now, he told himself, calm down, bring on the cover story.

He took a deep breath. "I... My name is Ryo Gosunkugi."

"Would you happen to be familiar with Ranma Saotome?"

"Oh, Uncle Ranma? Yeah, why?"

"Uncle?" asked Ratiko.

"Ah... actually, that's what I always called him. We're not, um,

really related." Muhoshin was unnerved by the way that Childra was

looking at him, which was, in his mind, not a little on the sultry side.

"Oh? Who's your parents?"

"Hikaru and Ukyou Gosunkugi."

Childra didn't have much reaction to that. "Oh, that's nice."

Ratiko, on the other hand, wasn't feeling so good. "Wait, your

mother... did she by any chance carry around a really large spatula?"

"Y-yeah, best okonomiyaki chef in town."

"It can't be... we've got to go back!" Ratiko yelled.

"Something's gone wrong!"

Childra sighed, annoyed that Ratiko still hadn't gotten the

concept of ALTERNATE realities down yet. "Calm down, Rat." She

nervously glanced at her pocket, afraid that the locket might be

triggered again.

"HOW CAN I CALM DOWN?! Great-grand-dad didn't marry Ukyou!"

Childra felt the locket begin to glow warmly, then fade as Ratiko

calmed down.

"Um, pardon? Who's your great-grandfather?" asked Muhoshin,

rather timidly.

"Ryouga Hibiki!" yelled Ratiko.

"Well... actually... Ryouga did marry mum."

"What? But wasn't your dad..."

"He, ah, died when I was young. Ryouga's my step-dad."

"I suppose that explains this?" asked Childra, and tossed

Muhoshin's ebony umbrella to him.

"Yeah... He thought I oughta be able to defend myself."

"I noticed some initials on it, UWSMA, you mind if I ask what it

means? It seems familiar."

"Ah, let's see... that was a school my step-dad used to be

a part of. Um, Unorthodox Weaponry School of... hm..."

"Oh, Unorthodox Weaponry School of Martial Arts," said Childra.

"I heard about them in some history notes."

"Oh? What'd you hear?"

"They used to train the bodyguards of the royal families,

hundreds of years ago, but for unknown reasons they faded away."

"That's all?" asked Muhoshin, feeling a bit saddened.

"That's it."

Meanwhile, nearby, a Hibiki was thinking, hard. It was quite an

effort. Finally, the Hibiki gears stopped turning.

"Hey!" said Ratiko. Muhoshin pretended to be startled. "Do you

have any brothers or sisters?"

"Well, mum is pregnant at the moment."

Ratiko wasn't sure what to think of it. On one hand, Ukyou didn't

marry Ryouga, at first. But on the other hand, she did, and will have a

child by him. So, he wondered, am I still going to exist if that happens?

He wasn't sure at all.

Just then, Ishido started to move.

"Ow," he said, "what hit me..."

"Apparently, HE did," said Childra, smirking and pointing at 'Ryo

Gosunkugi'. She had no idea exactly how correct she was.

Ishido was in a world of pain. Actually, that would be an

overstatement. He was in a small city block of pain. He opened his eyes,

and got flooded by brightness. His skull throbbed with pain.

"Ow," he said weakly.

"Still hurts?" asked Childra.

"I think this is how," said Ishido, pausing to wince, "a hangover

might feel."

"So... um, you're Ishido?" said Muhoshin.

"Yeah, this is Ishido," said Childra, getting up and sitting back

down by Ishido's side. She ran her hand through his hair slowly.

"Ishido, darling, we've got new company."

"Ow... another one?"

"Er... hi," said Muhoshin, timidly.

"No need to be scared, Gosling," said Childra in a playful and

teasing voice.

Deep inside, Ryo Muhoshin flared with anger. Gosling?! His eye

twitched briefly, but he managed to calm himself. [I should have known

this alias would have it's drawbacks.]

"Gosling?" asked Ishido, weakly.

Muhoshin winced again.

"We picked up the son of Hikaru Gosunkugi and Ukyou Kuonji."

Ishido tried to get up and have a look at their newest travelling

companion, but his headache flared up as he tried to sit up.

"Shh, lie down, darling, I like you that way," teased Childra.

It was Ishido's turn to blush, just before he faded into

unconsciousness again.

Ryo sat in the park bench, the sun's warmth on his face, and the

breeze going by gently. All was perfect today. He was waiting for his

Bell-chan. They had a date today, a nice picnic in the park.

"Ryo-kun!"

Ryo looked, and there was Bell-chan in all her beauty, with a

basket in hand and a warm smile on her face.

"Bell-chan!"

Ryo stood up and walked to her, and she walked to him. He took

her in his arms and kissed her, closing his eyes and holding them close.

She slowly and reluctantly pushed away from the kiss, with his

eyes still closed, and said, "Ooh, cutie, you're just ready to go right

now, aren't you?"

Something wasn't right. Ryo opened his eyes.

"Something wrong, darling?" Childra wrapped her arms around him

and moved in for another kiss.

"NOOOOOOOOOO!"

Ryo bolted upright, shaking badly. It was just a dream, just a

dream. Just a nightmare. He shook his heed to clear the cobwebs. [I love

BELL-CHAN... and nothing's going to stop me from coming back to her.]

Meanwhile, outside, Ranma was waiting. Actually, he was enjoying

the weather. There's a difference. Waiting is, for example, when one is

expecting someone to show up for a duel. Enjoying the weather is what one

does when one realises that it is a Hibiki that one is waiting for, and

accepts that it may be a long wait.

Ryo walked outside, to his 'father'.

"Pop, can I ask you something?"

"Um, sure." Ryo made Ranma a little uncomfortable and uncertain.

On one hand, there's Miyabi, proof that Ranma might care enough about

Akane to... to... marry *her*. And then there's Ryo, proof that Ranma

might really belong with *Ucchan* after all. Any belief Ranma had in fate

was tossed out the window. He was thankful that no kids of his from

Shampoo showed up, or... or worse yet, from him and Kodachi. That, he

figured, would just be too much.

"Have you seen a small silver locket anywhere?" he asked desperately.

"Locket? Um, sorry, no."

"Oh." Ryo looked downcast. He started to look around the trees

and bushes, knowing that he'd never been there but just decided to look

anyways.

"I'll, um, keep an eye out for it, okay?"

"Thanks, pop," said Ryo, in a tired voice.

Kasumi walked by, to Genma and Soun with a tray of refreshments.

"RANMAAAA!"

Ranma sighed.

Ryo looked around, spotting an enraged Ryouga Hibiki stomping

towards them.

"RANMA! TODAY IS THE DAY I WILL DEFEAT YOU!"

Ranma shifted into a ready position. "Whenever you're ready,

pig-boy."

"DIE!"

At this point, Ukyou Kuonji wandered in happily, looking forward

to spending a little time with her Ranchan.

"Hey, Ranchan, I- oh, am I interrupting something?

"Just me beatin' Ryouga. Again." Ranma cracked his knuckles and

the two martial artists went at it again.

"Not today, Saotome!"

"Oh, okay," said Ukyou, still in her cheery disposition, "I'll

just wait till you're finished." She sat down on the porch next to Ryo,

who had suddenly started feeling depressed again. There was his dad,

and there was his mom, and it didn't look like he loved her in this

reality either.

Kasumi walked by again, this time with a tray of empty containers

that once held drinks and snacks.

"Oh, hi Kasumi," said Ukyou to Kasumi as she passed by. "And

you," she said, looking at Ryo, "You a friend of Ranchan's? I don't think

we've met."

"Um, I guess you might say that..." he answered.

"Would you like something to drink?" asked Kasumi, politely.

"That's all right, Kasumi. So, who's the guest?"

"This is Ryo Saotome," said Kasumi.

Ryo was depressed beyond caring at the moment. Sure, he thought,

go ahead and tell her.

"Ryo Saotome?" Ukyou had a careful look at him. He _did_

resemble Ranchan quite a bit.

"I'm..."

"He's Ranma's son," said Kasumi.

"Yeah, what she said," said Ryo flatly, sinking into Ryouga-like

depression, his mind still trying to figure out how he could have lost

the locket.

Ukyou was silent for a moment. Then, she managed to blink.

"Excuse me?"

"Time travel," said Ryo, "long story."

"You're kidding, right?"

"Does she," he said, indicating Kasumi, "kid around that much?"

"Well... no." Ukyou heard about Happousai's Nanban mirror.

Considering the madness that goes on regularly in the neighbourhood, she

easily accepted the concept of time travellers.

"So... who's your mom?" she asked nervously.

"Well," said Ryo, hesitating, "you."

This gave Ukyou another reason to take a moment of silence. She

looked at Ryo again. She looked hard, and finally saw hints of Kuonji

lineage in his features as well.

"You're...my..." Ukyou was feeling a bit stunned. Elation and joy

were shooting through her mind. [Ranchan and I ARE going to be together!]

she thought happily. She hugged Ryo happily, "this is great! When's the

wedding? How many kids do we have? Are we good parents to you?"

"So, P-Chan, what're ya mad about THIS time?" asked Ranma.

"You have not only made my life hell, but YOU'VE RUINED THE LIFE

OF MY GREAT-GRANDSON!"

There was a notable pause in the action as Ryouga fumed and

everyone else (except Ryo, whose mind was shifting constantly from

angst, to depression, to trying to find out where that damn locket

went) looked at Ryouga as if he was insane.

Ukyou glanced briefly at Ryouga. [His kid time-travel too?] she

wondered.

Ranma thought he must've heard things wrong.

"Your WHAT?" asked Ranma.

"MY GREAT-GRANDSON!"

"So, who's Ryouga's great-grandson?" asked Ukyou cheerfully,

This was a new one to Ryo, unless Ishido or Ratiko was...

"Ratiko Hibiki," said Ryouga through semi-clenched teeth, "whose

life Ranma has also made a LIVING HELL!"

"_What_ are you talking about, P-Chan?!"

"SHUT UP RANMA!"

"Ratiko. Okaaay," said Ukyou. "I asked this much already, might as

well find out," she muttered to herself. "So who's Ratiko's

great-grandmother? Did Ryouga finally get together with Akane?"

"Why, you are." said Kasumi in a rather sweet way. Ukyou and Ryouga

reacted instantly and at the same time.

"WHAT?!" yelled Ukyou. "WHY WOULD I EVER HAVE KIDS WITH THAT

IDIOT?!"

"NO WAY! HIS GREAT-GRANDMOTHER IS AKANE!" boomed Ryouga.

Ranma and Ryo, father and son, were both rather unsure of how to

approach the situation. They both decided to shut up and let things

happen. Besides, Ryo had more pressing matters on his mind.

"Who the heck told you this?" demanded Ukyou.

"Well," said Kasumi, not fazed at all by Ukyou and Ryouga's loud

reactions, "Doctor Tofu told me that Ratiko told him, or was it Childra?

anyways, it was one of those two... I think, that told him that Ratiko's

great-grandparents were Ryouga and Ukyou."

"Wait... Ratiko said this?!" said Ryouga.

Kasumi nodded.

Ryouga's world spun out of control and into a heap of shattered

glass. "That means... that means I'm destined NOT to win Akane's heart?

Why didn't Ratiko tell me?!"

Ukyou rubbed her chin in thought. "Now wait a minute... I'm gonna

have children by Ranma AND Ryouga? No way!"

"Huh?" asked Ryouga. "You and Ranma have a child together?!"

"Yeah, him," said Ukyou, indicating Ryo. In the back of her

mind, she knew that this conversation had lost any resemblance of a

normal one a long time ago, but she didn't care. In Nerima, you either

roll with the punches, go mad, or somehow achieve a Kasumi-like inner

peace. Ukyou was one to roll with the punches.

"RANMA YOU CAD!" roared Ryouga, "YOU SLEPT WITH MY WIFE!"

"What?!" yelled Ukyou. "NOW JUST A SEC-"

"HEY!" yelled Ranma, "FOR ALL I KNOW, -YOU- PROBABLY SLEPT WITH

-MY- WIFE! YOU'RE ALREADY SLEEPING WITH MY FIANCEE!"

"THAT'S DIFFERENT!"

"OH? HOW SO?!"

Ukyou didn't know how to take that... did Ranchan think that she

and Ryouga slept together already?! Or... or maybe Ryouga finally got

somewhere with Akane!

"Hi auntie Kasumi, hi dad, uncle Ryouga, aunt Ukyou," said Miyabi

as she walked by.

Everyone but Kasumi paused again, their line of thought knocked

off balance by the use of 'uncle' and 'aunt'.

"Oh, hello Miyabi-chan!" said Kasumi. "Going somewhere?"

"Just gonna visit grandmother." Miyabi walked calmly out the

door. She felt that talking to dad was no use now, and she'd already

had a good talk with mum, so why not talk to grandmother?

"Be back in time for dinner, okay?" reminded Kasumi.

"Okay."

That little interlude set off another Moment Of Silence. Ranma

should have realised what Miyabi meant when she said she was visiting

grandmother... but the heat of the moment made Ranma pay more attention to

the more immediate threats of Ryouga and possibly an enraged Ukyou.

"Uncle Ryouga?" wondered Ryouga out loud.

"Aunt Ukyou?" asked Ukyou.

There was more silence. Ranma wondered if he should run.

"And, ah, who was that girl?" asked Ukyou.

"Miyabi? That's Ranma and Akane's daughter." said Kasumi,

sweetly (of course).

"Ranma..." said Ukyou.

"... and Akane's..." continued Ryouga.

"She's my daughter, so what?" asked Ranma, sounding a bit

insulted and defensive.

"RANCHAN, HOW COULD YOU?!"

"RANMA, YOU WOMANIZER!"

[Insert violence here]

Ratiko, Childra, and 'Gosling' (as Childra had so affectionately

called him) hauled Ishido up the flight of stairs of their dorm and into

Childra's room.

"Mind if I just take a quick look around?" asked 'Ryo Gosunkugi'

"Sure, just don't get lost, cutey." said Childra.

Muhoshin strongly resisted the compulsion to do a Hibiki joke.

And with that, Ryo Muhoshin walked out the door.

Childra looked at Ishido with a little bit of lust and a lot of

playfulness. "Hmm."

"Uh oh, what are you thinking?" asked Ratiko.

"Just a little something to... wake him up."

Childra tucked Ishido into bed, underneath the blankets, and then

she slid under the sheets with him.

"HEY! NOT IN FRONT OF ME!" yelled Ratiko.

Ryo shook his head sadly and walked back into the house with

Kasumi as Ukyou and Ryouga proceeded to beat Ranma into the ground.

All this business about sons and daughters and great grandsons...

wait a minute...

"Kasumi?"

"Yes?"

"Have you seen Ratiko around?"

"No, sorry."

"Childra?"

"Um... no."

Ryo's mind flashed back to a moment with Childra, her hands all

over his... well... his lower regions... and in his _pocket_.

Ryo turned red with anger, as all the pieces snapped into place,

and he knew with certainty where his locket was... or to be more exact,

who had his locket.

"DAMN HER!"

Ishido woke up, yet again. He'd been flickering in and out of

consciousness for a while now, through the hover-craft ride, and the

hover-cab ride, and the ridiculous climb up the staircase. Finally, he

felt that he might be able to actually _stay_ conscious. Strange images

were flickering in his mind... Ryouga's umbrella, in his face... riding on

the hover-mech... Gosunkugi (or was it Ryo Muhoshin? It couldn't be.)

riding with them in the hover-mech, talking with Childra nervously...

At the moment, it seemed that he was somewhere... soft. A bed?

The sheets seemed... silky. He was under a very nice, soft blanket,

probably filled with goose down feathers, and the pillows weren't bad

either. He inhaled and smelled the scent of exotic (perhaps erotic) body

oils.

[Oh boy] he thought.

He opened his eyes, very slowly, knowing this might be a mistake.

The first thing he saw was, of course, the ceiling.

"Hey there, darling."

_That_ voice was definitely female, and more importantly, next to

him. Ishido turned his head. What he saw, only inches away, was a

grinning Childra Jansen, covered up from the neck down by the blanket.

For all he could guess, she might've been naked. His mind was so panicked

that he wasn't sure if HE was naked too...

"Have a nice rest, cutie?" she asked.

He was unconscious, then he was in a woman's bed, between

the sheets. This usually meant that something... interesting occurred.

And so, Ishido passed out.

Again.

"Hey, hot stuff, wake up," said Childra, gently patting him on the

cheek. Ishido awoke again, and this time he steeled himself for what

might be some alarming developments.

"We're... in bed," he said, slowly.

"Yup!" replied Childra happily.

"W-we didn't..." he asked nervously.

"Not yet," she said whimsically, winking.

"You're cruel, lady," said Ratiko from a chair nearby.

Ishido's eyes got wider than before (which was an amazing stunt)

and he sat upright. "It's not what it looks like!" he yelled.

"Shame on you, Rat, you spoiled the mood." Childra mock-pouted.

Ishido realised he was out from under the blanket and quickly did

a self-check.

Step one: Naked?

He felt himself a bit and looked down.

Answer: No.

Step two: are my pants lowered in any way, or undone?

He looked down lower.

Answer: No.

No need to check further then.

Meanwhile, outside, Ryo Muhoshin was collecting his thoughts,

along with some fresh air. The scene of the college, with all of the

futuristic architecture, those wonderful hover-crafts zooming by, and

these interesting things that weren't quite phone booths; they all made

him wonder how he could turn this to his advantage. He twirled his

umbrella idly (he had a habit of doing that whenever he was happy, angry,

bored, thinking, or about to attack somebody) and sat in the front of the

dorm building, pondering his next move.

Dimensional Travel! Imagine the possibilities! The grudge

against Ryouga was small-time compared to the importance of _this_. He

could be rich beyond his wildest dreams! More powerful than he'd ever

dared to hope! Whatever the secret of crossing dimensions, he _wanted_

it.

"It will be mine," he said quietly to himself, "oh yes, it will be

mine."

And then he got that nagging sort of feeling.

From around the corner, somebody was watching.

Without turning around, Muhoshin asked, "Who's there?"

A rather pale girl emerged from the corner, with waist-length

brown hair streaked with white, and somewhat large, black-lined eyes. She

was wearing a red-and-black body-suit of some sort, covered by something

that looked like a streamlined university jacket.

[She... she reminds me of someone,] thought Muhoshin. He peered

at her, trying to think of _why_ she seemed familiar.

Skeride stared at the man before her with a mix of curiosity,

wonder, and fear. He _looked_ a lot like her great-grandfather... Well,

like one of the many versions of her great-grandfather that she had

known... [Could it be...] Was he Great-grandfather Hikaru, returned from

the past (again) to help her? Was he here with a warning? A threat? Her

ancestors - all of them - tended to avoid this Kunou-ruled reality unless

they had serious business. She squinted, trying to make out small details

in his face with her lilac eyes. Had she even MET this particular

Gosunkugi before?

Time and reality travel, being what it was, made discussions about

past family members somewhat disorienting. Add in a family that has

strong chronal magical talent, and it gets even worse. Skeride had met a

large number of her ancestors, most of them being Great-grandfather

Hikaru, quite a few that were not, and one or two alternate versions of

herself. Of course, this made the situation at hand extremely awkward from

a social greetings point of view.

"Um, Gosunkugi Hikaru?" Skeride asked quietly. She didn't miss

the slight twitch in his frame as she uttered that name.

[I wonder why he did that...]

"Not quite," sighed Muhoshin. Figures. Even if he ran a hundred

years into the future, he wouldn't get away from that damned tag. He

briefly considered killing off Gosunkugi, just to clear things up. After

he went back home and eliminated Ryouga, of course.

The not-Hikaru began scowling, but caught himself and returned to

a calm, neutral mood. Skeride approached him with cautiously narrowed

eyes. If he wasn't her great-grandfather, then who was he?

A hint of dark circles around the eyes, a pale complexion, a very

lean build.

He certainly LOOKED like a Gosunkugi.

But he'd felt her there... None of her relatives, from this or any

other alternity, was THAT perceptive.

Skeride had to get to the bottom of this.

She took a deep breath, cleared her throat, and stepped out of the

shadows.

"You... whoever you are... How'd you know I was watching you?" she

asked, somewhat timidly. "Most people can't find me when I want to stay

hidden."

"I just knew, miss," he replied, grinning like a Cheshire cat.

"And who might I have the pleasure of speaking to?" He dropped the 'Ryo

Gosunkugi' act for the moment, mostly because he was sick of acting like a

snivelling coward, and partially because he wanted to have a little fun.

The girl blushed, not being used to being talked to in such a

polite manner. She snapped out of her shyness and offered a handshake.

"My name is Gosunkugi Skeride."

Muhoshin held back a smirk. [Much like her ancestor, I suppose.

What a coincidence that we should meet here.]

"Nice to meet you." Ryo took her hand. As they touched, Skeride's

eyes widened in obvious shock. Quickly, she withdrew her hand.

"Who... What ARE you?" she asked tremulously.

"Well, that...is complicated, considering who you are."

Muhoshin smiled to himself. Her reaction was fairly amusing to him.

"You don't belong here."

With that comment, he was a bit unsettled.

"That... is true."

Skeride frowned, then poked Ryo in his shoulders, knees and chest.

"Pardon?" he asked, but was completely ignored.

"Solid," the girl muttered to himself, "so he can't be a ghost...

But then, what..." She peered at him. "That AURA... I've never seen black

streaks in someone's aura before, not like that..." She snapped out of

the trance she was in, and once again spoke to the man in front of her.

"What time are you from, and what is your business in this century?" she

asked firmly.

Ryo raised an eyebrow in surprise. The girl reads auras? He

considered the possible trouble this girl may raise and frowned

internally.

He twirled his umbrella again, slowly.

"How did you know?" he asked.

"It shows in your aura," said Skeride. "I sense something odd, and

I'm fairly certain it's temporal distortion." She snorted. "Can't be sure,

of course, with all the BLACK in your pattern hindering my sight... Now,

answer me."

He smiled again, amused. The lady was quite the commanding type

suddenly. Oh my.

"No need to be alarmed," said Ryo in a hurt tone, "I'm just

here... accidentally. Honest." It WAS the truth, just not with details.

"Of course you are." Skeride would normally be more cautious

about things, but she sensed that Childra was nearby, so if things got

ugly, she knew she'd have someone to call. That didn't mean she wasn't

scared. She was considerably frightened, feeling that taint of black in

him, and sensing a deep hatred of a Hibiki buried in his mind. The only

Hibikis she knew were Ratiko and his family, so... Something bad was going

on.

"Tell me who you are, mister."

Muhoshin sensed that she was turning things over in her head, and

decided to derail her train of thought with an answer.

"Ryo Gosunkugi," he said, matter-of-factly.

"Gosunkugi?" she slammed her right fist into her left palm. "I

knew it! It IS time-travel!" Ryo noted that Skeride seemed to have a

habit of talking to herself, regardless of who was present. Tsk. All the

easier to read, then. Some people just aren't smart about certain

things...

"You're not a part of the Collective, are you?" asked Skeride,

narrowing her eyes even further. If the Gosunkugi Collective had allowed

a Gosunkugi as... as TAINTED in soul as he was... something was wrong.

Ryo tried to read that expression, and guessed that the collective

was NOT a good thing to be a part of. "Collective? What Collective?"

Skeride breathed a sigh of relief. [Good, the Gosunkugi

Collective hasn't been corrupted.] "You're not one of them then, huh?

Well, maybe the EH guys must've screwed up again... Or have they decided

to drag people in from alternate timelines on purpose? Hm..."

Feigning surprise, Muhoshin interfered, "Oh? How did you know

about the alternate dimensions?"

"Alternate HISTORIES, not DIMENSIONS." She scowled with disgust.

"You're certainly not a scientist, that much's for sure."

"I'll admit I don't read the dictionary all that often, but..."

He spun his umbrella, then stopped it and put its metal point at the

Gos-girl's neck. "Perhaps you could enlighten me... HOW DID YOU KNOW?" He

grinned a snake-like grin and brought his face closer to hers.

Large beads of sweat began to form on Skeride's pale forehead.

"I... I told ya, it shows in the aura." After a few quick

breaths, she composed herself and stopped trembling. It seemed like she

was focusing on something... Someone... Whatever it was, it seemed to get

rid of her fear... All of a sudden, she grinned, and brushed the umbrella

away. Surprised, Ryo resumed sitting normally and eyed her with a look of

genuine curiosity.

"Besides," she hissed in a firm, snake-like voice. "I know my

family tree, and you're not in it." She looked at him closely. "Thank

the gods for small blessings... Although... you definitely look related

to me - much as I hate to admit it."

"Not in your tree? Oh well, nice to have meet you."

It was. Rare was the time when one met such an... Interesting

character. Charming girl, firm-minded... Maybe another time... If he

managed to learn the secret behind this kind of time-jump, he could

return, and... But that was in the future [or the past?].

"The pleasure is all yours," she answered bitterly. There was no

way she was going to be friendly to anyone out to hurt her Ratiko...

Skeride crossed her fingers behind her back, mainly for luck. This man

was dangerous, but Childra was safe, and the wards on Rat hadn't set off

warning bells, so he must be all right... Jansen was tough, and trained

to fight. She could protect her darling if need be...

She MUST.

"Miss, I simply do _not_ understand your hostility."

"And I would like to know more of YOURS." Again, that venomous

tone.

"More... of mine? I have NO idea what you're going on about."

"Does the name 'Hibiki' mean anything to you?"

[This girl was involved with that family? All right then, Madam

Gosunkugi... You've just bought yourself another five minutes of life...]

"Perhaps..." answered Muhoshin. "And to yourself? I don't suppose

you..."

"Gosling! Get back here; we're gonna try something!" yelled

Childra as she emerged from the front doors of the dorm. Ryo couldn't

help but wince at his new-found nickname. "Hey, I see you've met Nutkin!"

"Nutkin?" asked 'Gosling', sounding amused.

"That's just what she calls me," said Skeride, smiling a bit

nervously and waving at Childra.

Could it be Jansen didn't know about... About... About this

monster?

"My, what are you two doing?" asked Childra.

"Just talking," said Muhoshin, easing into his 'Ryo Gosunkugi'

persona once more. He flashed a sly look at Skeride, who suddenly felt

uncomfortable.

"Yeah... talking," said Skeride. She wanted to warn her, tell her

what she'd sensed, but it was too dangerous. That was no ordinary

umbrella, and this was no ordinary person... One false move when the

archaeologist was unprepared, and...

Let's just say her ghost-sight would get some use.

Better to trust Childra to do what she had to when the time came.

At least, her wards assured her that nothing had gone seriously wrong - not

YET...

If she couldn't work from THAT side, though, maybe it was time to

try something from the other end of the problem...

"Well, come back up once you're done, okay?" Childra went back

inside the doors.

"Goodness, I really must be going..." said Muhoshin, snapping back out

of his 'Ryo Gosunkugi' mode once Childra disappeared.

[Not so quickly, O evil relative of mine,] thought Skeride.

She stepped towards him, her eyes two narrow slits. This would

take some doing, but she THOUGHT she had it right...

"Just remember - lay a hand on Ratiko, and I KNOW that Childra

will make sure you're unable to lay a hand on ANYTHING after that."

This girl knew Ratiko? And she seemed to be emotionally attached

to him... how very interesting.

"Is that so?" asked Muhoshin.

"That is so. And if SHE doesn't get to you, I..."

"You...?" He was looking at her expectantly, with a strong hint

of boredom.

Nutkin closed her eyes, and the air around her began to glow

slightly, then gradually growing in intensity. In a few seconds, her form

was surrounded by a coat of purple fire.

She opened her eyes.

[Lilac, just like that amnesiac's...] thought Ryo. [Interesting...

maybe there's a connection? Maybe not. Who knows.]

"Or," she said, "I'll deal with you MYSELF."

Muhoshin raised an eyebrow, duly impressed with the sudden display

of power that this girl showed. His gut instinct however, was feeling

rather smug. He still sensed the taint of fear on this descendant of

Gosunkugi. She wanted to make him THINK she was confident, but she hadn't

counted on his... Unusual sensory capabilities.

He decided to push things further, just for amusement.

Muhoshin grinned and stepped back a bit, raising the curved handle

of his umbrella in a salute. "We'll meet again," he said.

"You'd better hope we don't."

"And... Miss?"

Nutkin raised a questioning eyebrow, as Muhoshin grinned.

"You're not the only one who can pull off a light-show."

His umbrella handle flickered with ki energy, and Skeride stepped

back, alarmed. She felt a cold shiver down her spine as her latest spell,

which she used to find her way in the dark, dissolved around her. In a

universe of infinite alternities, there were some pretty BAD

possibilities. What if... What if he was a SUPER Gosunkugi... tainted by

evil? His aura certainly reeked of malevolence, and that glow... THAT was

no fireworks display... It was ki; she could smell it. Pure spiritual

energy, powered by emotions... Dark ones, in his case...

[Trouble.]

What if there was another _whole_ collective run by evil

Gosunkugis?

What on earth WAS that man?

[Deity...]

"Be seeing you," he said, closing the doors. Once this mess was

all sorted out, he thought, once he disposed of whoever needed to be

disposed of, and he had his hands on the secret of time travel, he might

try to see her again. Quite the woman she turned out to be... Who'd have

ever thought Gos had it in him to generate such a descendant? It was

almost a pity to have had to treat her like that, but... Still, it's good

to put people in their place.

Ishido stared at Muhoshin as he entered the dorm. Alarm bells

went off in his mind. He was skinny, pale, and was twirling an umbrella

that had a blade at the tip of it. This, he told himself, was NOT

Gosunkugi.

"YOU!" he yelled.

"Me?" Muhoshin asked, timidly.

Ishido sprang forward and swung at Muhoshin, punching him in the

face, then the gut, and then flung him across the room. Muhoshin landed

in a heap, making sure that he looked like he was more hurt than he

actually was. Stunt men would have been proud of his work.

[When this charade is over] thought Muhoshin [he dies].

Finally, Ratiko and Childra held him back.

"What the heck are you doing?!" yelled Childra

"THAT'S HIM! THAT'S THE PSYCHOPATH!"

"Ow," whined Muhoshin, weakly, "I'm huuuurt..."

"Does that look like a psychopath to you?!" she said, pointing to

a whining Muhoshin holding his face and stomach in pain.

"Yes it does!"

"Ishido! Stop it!" yelled Ratiko. "Does that SKINNY..."

Muhoshin paused.

"...no, SCRAWNY..."

Muhoshin tried not to fume.

"...little guy..."

This, he felt, was getting ridiculously insulting. [He DIES

later, slowly and painfully]

"... look like he could even hurt a fly?! I don't think so!"

[He dies a DOG'S DEATH... entrails scattered...]

"Besides, didn't you say yourself that your memory was hazy?"

"Well... yes..."

"Then," reasoned Childra, "might you not be mistaken about this?"

"But... then who is that guy?!"

"He's Ryo Gosunkugi, son of Ukyou and Hikaru Gosunkugi," said

Childra.

"And what about that umbrella? Huh?"

"I'm..." started Muhoshin, rather Gosunkugi-ish.

"His dad died early and his mother remarried to Ryouga, who taught

him how to use an umbrella," said Childra in one long breath. "Okay?"

Muhoshin nodded frantically.

"Well... okay... maybe I am confused." He looked at Muhoshin and

said, "Sorry about that." In the back of his mind, Ishido still had his

suspicions.

"I-it's all right." stammered 'Gosling'. Ishido struck him

down. Ishido struck HIM down. He wouldn't let Ishido get away with

that. [He Will Die]

"There, see?" said Childra, stroking Ishido's hair. "You really

shouldn't really be so paranoid, darling."

Ishido blushed, rather badly too.

Childra wanted to get them all together to try another reality

jump, hopefully to bring 'Gosling' back. Then they could start

time-jumping to her heart's content.

Ratiko's mind was churning a bit.

Hibiki minds tend to do that when there's something nagging at

the edge of their intelligence. He'd been replaying the events of the

last day and finally realised what it was. Suddenly, he had a _very_

strong desire to go somewhere...

"CHILDRA! WE'VE GOT TO GO BACK!" roared Ratiko.

"Great-grandmother won't-"

He didn't get to finish the statement, as the four of them

disappeared in an azure blink of light

Ratiko was wanting to go back to 1996 Nerima, fearing that Ryouga

had NOT fallen in love with Ukyou.

Ishido's constant fear of grand conspiracies was up and running

again.

Childra was taken entirely by surprise.

And Ryo Muhoshin? He was thinking of destruction.

Ryouga walked the streets with Nabiki, holding her hand for

several reasons. One reason was that he was still afraid that the

Chronus organisation was still running rampant, despite the destruction

of all the Chronus bases a few months back, and he was afraid they'd

try to kidnap her. Secondly, if he didn't hold her hand, he'd get lost.

And the third reason was, simply, because he was in love with her.

They'd had a day out, looking around malls, watching a movie, and

actually relaxing for the first time in years. Ryouga actually thought

that his life might finally be normal again.

As they walked home, Nabiki leaned on Ryouga's shoulder, snuggling

somewhat. "Nice day, wasn't it?" she asked.

"Yeah."

Just outside of the doujou, there was a flash of light, and four

disoriented young people dropped to the ground.

Childra realised what happened, and strongly resisted the urge to

club Ratiko over the head.

"We... we're back?" asked Ishido.

"Looks like it," said Childra.

"Well, there's the doujou, let's get back inside," said Ishido

eagerly, feeling his paranoia nag at him.

The four entered the gates, and all but Muhoshin went into the

house.

"Just wanna enjoy the weather a bit," he said.

"Hello? Anybody home?" yelled Ratiko.

They looked around, and the place seemed to be empty.

And different.

Nobody could say exactly what, but there was something different

about the place.

Ryo Muhoshin, now alone, twirled his umbrella a bit, pondering

his next move. He wasn't sure what was causing the reality shifts. If

it was a person, he'd have to see about gaining their co-operation, by any

means necessary. If it was an object, well, things would be much easier.

He did a few katas with his umbrella, slashing high, slashing

low, and stabbing. Then he heard the front gates open.

Nabiki entered the gates, followed by Ryouga.

Muhoshin turned and looked at them.

He grinned.

Ryouga pulled Nabiki behind him. "Who the hell are you?!" he yelled.

Muhoshin thought for a moment. [Well, one Ryouga's as good as

another] he decided, and started to advance on Ryouga, grinning wickedly

and twirling his umbrella, which started to glow at both ends.

"En garde!" Muhoshin charged at Ryouga, brandishing his umbrella

menacingly.

"Nabiki, get back!"

"Ryouga, be careful!"

"GUYVER!"

What happened next was rather hard for Muhoshin to believe.

Childra, Ishido, and Ratiko sat in the living room, watching

television and wondering exactly _what_ was different here.

"I've just got this feeling something's different," said Ishido.

"Same here, kinda," said Childra.

"A... nagging feeling, I guess," said Ratiko.

Then they heard a yell and some frantic footsteps.

Muhoshin dove in through the back porch, looking behind himself

and rather panic-stricken. He scrambled to Childra put a hand on her

shoulder, and said in a low but urgent tone, "We should leave, _now_."

"What's-" she asked, but didn't get to finish as a figure stomped

into the room.

"LEAVE US ALONE!" yelled the figure, covered in some strange sort

of alien armour. He raised a hand and some very nasty blades popped out.

Ryo Muhoshin's desire to leave at that moment became _very_ strong,

just leave to somewhere _safe_.

In a flash of light, he and Childra vanished, leaving behind a

shimmering glow. Alarmed at their departure, and at the armoured menace

whose chest suddenly opened to reveal something that looked like laser

cannons, Ishido and Ratiko dived into the shimmering light.

Enraged that his foes disappeared, GuyverRyouga fired a massive

blast of energy into the shimmering portal as it disappeared.

"Well... the scenery is nice," mused 'Gosling'.

"Can't say that the scenery is bad, no," agreed Childra.

"I hate it," muttered Ratiko. His shirt was singed, as if hit by

an energy blast.

"What's his problem?" asked Ishido. The side of his hair was

also singed a little.

"He's got a slight water phobia," explained Childra.

"Ah. I see."

Muhoshin filed that bit of information away in his memory for use

at a later time.

The four sat under the shade of a rather large tree, on an

apparently deserted island. Further away, another tree was smoking,

apparently hit by a large energy blast.

Childra sighed. She liked this place. "Well, as much as I hate

to say it, we can't stay here forever."

"We can't? I like it here," said Ishido. After all, how could

_they_ (whoever they are, he didn't know) find him here?

"I know, I know, and as much as I'd like to stay here with you,"

said Childra in a sultry voice, "well, maybe later, darling?" She winked.

Ishido laughed nervously and scratched the back of his head.

For once in his life, he was relaxed, knowing that nobody was out to kill

him out there.

Childra was thinking of Ishido.

Ratiko just wanted to get back to his great-grandfather. Badly.

Ryo was still mulling over (and worrying about) the possibilities

of an infinite universe... with infinite Ryougas... and infinite Ryos.

The four of them disappeared in a flare of azure light.

Moments later...

"Hey skipper! Look! Footprints!"

"Gosh, little buddy, you're right! Let's have a look around."

This was Tokyo.

A bustling, crowded town filled with skyscrapers on every block,

reducing the populace to scurrying ants below. Everywhere one could look,

it was tall grey giants everywhere, with crowded alleys and streets below.

In between two of the giants, behind a few barricades, in a dark

alley, a bright light flickered, and four young people popped into

existence.

"Hey, did you see that?" asked Ken Ryouga Yagami.

"See what?" wondered Adam Ryouga Akari.

"Blue glow, from that alley."

"Isn't that the area we're about to do some construction and

repairs on?" asked a Kasumi. "Call crew four over here, it might be

those Ministry of Confusion thugs again."

"Oh great, where are we now?" asked Ishido.

Muhoshin whistled. He saw a movie once, called 'Brazil', and

this reminded him of it, very much so. He loved it. Tall, steel

buildings that screamed of big business and industry.

Ratiko looked around nervously. Not because of the scenery, but

because the skies were overcast with dark rain-clouds.

"Well, we're definitely not back in Nerima," stated Childra.

Then a pack of people walked into the alley. They were in all in

grey uniforms, and most of them were quite irritable.

Ratiko was stunned.

Childra was speechless.

Ishido's paranoia kicked in at full strength.

Muhoshin was frozen in place.

"Hey, what the hell are you guys doing here?" asked Ryouga.

"This area is marked off for construction!" yelled another.

"It's been a while since I trashed somebody," muttered yet another

Ryouga. The pack of Ryougas muttered in agreement and approached with

definite hostile intentions. When a Hibiki get upset, someone usually

gets hurt. When a pack of Hibikis gets upset, someone is in trouble.

These Hibikis were having a bad day already, and they weren't given a

chance to vent their frustrations.

Yet.

"Childra," nervously asked Ratiko, "why is there an angry mob

of my great-grandfathers approaching us?"

"Do you really expect me to know?" hissed Childra.

[I'm in hell] thought Muhoshin.

"Wait!" a rather feminine voice yelled. "No fighting now, boys."

"We don't need any more property damage," chimed in another one,

identical to the one before it.

Two figures stepped through the hordes and stood between them and

the four. They were apparently Kasumi. Both of them.

"Ka... Kasumi?" stuttered Ratiko.

"Oh, this is too much for me," said Childra.

Ishido was feeling incredibly at un-ease. This was a rather

unbelievable conspiracy in action. Apparently, Ryougas and Kasumis have

taken over the world.

Muhoshin stared, as if mesmerised, at the two women that appeared.

Childra glanced around at her companions to check on their mental

state. Ratiko and Ishido were mentally reeling, but why did Gosling have

that... strange (almost sentimental) look on his face? This wouldn't

do. There'd be nothing gained here and they were in trouble already.

"We're leaving," she muttered, and concentrated, hard.

"No... wait..." said Muhoshin, but he was already fading out of

that reality, along with the rest of them.

"Teleportation?" asked a Ryouga.

"I didn't know we had that technology."

"We don't, but who knows, maybe the Ministry of Peace is up to

something again."

"But Kodachi isn't in charge of that bunch anymore."

"Who knows, you just can't trust government."

It should be noted at this point that a Hibiki and a device that

can transport people to any place and any time is a navigational disaster

waiting to happen. It's much like putting a magnet on a really sensitive

electronic device, or like putting a mallet to a compass.

Either way, the results afterwards are bound to be messy.

LONDON, 1892

It was one of those nights. The kind of nights where families

hide away in their homes, the shady seek shelter in warm taverns, and the

street urchins pray they make it through the night.

In one darkened, fog enclosed alley, a speck of blue light

flickered. Suddenly, the light expanded into a huge sphere, then just as

suddenly disappeared, leaving four dazed youths.

"Where the heck are we NOW?" grumbled Ratiko.

Before anyone could ask, there was a shout, then whistles. The

sound of footsteps rushing their way made the group panic. Ishido's eyes

went wild. "They're here! They're after me again!" Looking around in

panic, he bolted into the fog. Childra cursed under her breath, racing

after him. Before Ratiko could protest her departure, dim figures could

be seen marching into the alley from one side. Muhoshin narrowed his

eyes, sensing an uncomfortable situation, and sprang up to the rooftops.

Ratiko, now alone, fled into the fog, panic running through him.

Ratiko shambled through the fog and the cobblestone streets,

sometimes tripping on the somewhat damp street, but always scrambling ever

onward forwards, fearing he'd be lost and alone in this strange and very

unfriendly looking city. "Childra! Ishido! Gos! Wait! WAIT FOR ME!"

Unfortunately for him, they seemed to be long gone, and now he was alone.

Not quite alone.

There were quite a few gaijin people around... dressed in really

old-fashioned clothing... and staring... at him.

He turned to one person, grabbing him by the wrist, and asked,

"Excuse me, do you know how I can get to Japan?" The person merely pushed

him away, seemingly alarmed, and screamed one of the few words Ratiko knew

in English...

[POLICE! POLICE!]

Ratiko paled. What did he do? He didn't know, but he decided not

to stick around and find out.

He stood there, watching them go by in the daylight. Watching

them go by unstopped in the daylight. The Godless hell-spawned good for

nothing slutswhoresbitches that just paraded around. How did it go how

did it go how did it go, the funny little rhyme he wrote some years back?

Eight little whores, with no hope of heaven...

Except this time there shall be more than eight.

Oh yessss, old Boss oughta be thrilled now.

Dear old Jack the lad is back.

'Gosling' strolled calmly through the streets, figuring out slowly

what was happening at the moment. From the events in recent hours he knew

that he was a) time-travelling b) reality-skipping and c) lost.

As to his current situation he was obviously a) in the barbarian

lands b) with people that spoke English, a language he fortunately had

some practice with and c) back quite a few years... perhaps the 1800s, he

guessed. With that in mind, he knew that his current attire would be

passable for a while, at least. White t-shirt, and black pants, both

loose, and some Italian shoes he had bought from an import store. All he

needed was a jacket of some sort, and something to hide his face, since he

knew the barbarians were quite paranoid of foreigners in this day and age.

But first... a drink. He hadn't had any caffeine-tainted drinks

in a while and it was beginning to affect him. Now where to find a

drink... ah, there was a quaint little bar right over there...

It was a quiet night in the tavern, except for the drunks.

[But ye had nae right t'do that, Mark!] drunkenly bellowed one

man, lean, with round glasses and semi-long hair.

[Shut your bloody trap, Nigel, I'll do as oy please!] bellowed

another, obviously 'Mark'.

[But ye shoulda asked *hic* first!]

Muhoshin sat in a corner, growing irritated by the ambience that

they were generating. The six cups of caffeine he failed to get wasn't

helping him stay calm either (he didn't have any of the local currency).

He glared at the offending drunk, the one named 'Mark', and also realised

something. It seemed that his jacket probably would be a perfect fit...

and that hat... and those glasses...

As Mark left the bar, unsteadily, Muhoshin walked after, whistling

a merry little tune and twirling his umbrella in a happy manner.

*THWACK*

A few moments later, Muhoshin entered, wearing a dress shirt

instead of his t-shirt, with an old fashioned tie around the neck, and an

overcoat made of wool covering him from neck to ankle. Atop his head was

a grey bowler hat. His eyes were hidden by thick large circular

glasses.

[Perfect.]

[A... pitcher of tea, Miss?]

Ishido sat, dazed, confused, and scared, at the edge of an alley.

He had just gotten through running what felt like a hundred miles, with

THEM everywhere. The programming and his conditioning had been keeping

him just fine so far, but he was finally near his limits.

[Hey! You! Move along now! Get going!]

Ishido stared at the strange man with fright. It was one of THEM

again, in a disguise this time! They'd found him again! But why were they

speaking in a language he didn't understand?

"Get away from me! Leave me alone!"

The man pulled out a baton, menacingly.

"I said, LEAVE ME ALONE!" He focused his energies on his fist,

which began to glow with red flames.

[Wot the bloody hell?!]

"ROU-SOU-KEN!" Ishido slammed the glowing fist into the man,

who was sent flying across the street. People passing by began to scream

and point, and the sound of THEM blowing their whistles and screaming at

him returned.

[Theyreaftermeagaintheyreaftermeagaintheyreaftermeagain] The

thought buzzed in Ishido's brain over and over as he saw the figures

hidden in the fog chase him down constantly. Wherever he went, WHENEVER

he went, it slowly dawned on him, there was _no_ escape.

As he turned to an alley, he found much to his horror that it was

a dead end. He turned around in time to see half a dozen figures in

uniform wielding batons. They were yelling angrily in some language he

didn't understand. He DID understand the way they were holding those

batons...

[No! THEY WON'T CATCH ME! NONONO!]

Ishido raised his hands, a sphere of ki glowing and growing

between them, and bellowed, " ROU-SOU-DAN!"

Ratiko huffed and puffed, taking a rest from his nearly constant

running. Everywhere he turned, every face he saw, it turned out to be a

hostile or frightened one. What was wrong with these people?!

Another problem edged into his mind. Where, exactly, was he to

rest? Nightfall was here already, and he knew he couldn't roam the

streets all night. _Oh, Deity... HEEEEEELP!_ he screamed in his head.

Suddenly, a strange glow lit up a part of the night sky, and he heard

someone... yelling? It didn't matter to him, though... for in the

direction of the glow, he saw his salvation...

And blinked.

[I guess they really DO listen when you call on them...]

[The lain in Spain faus mainly in the prain] practised Muhoshin,

trying to get the British accent just right. Cursing himself, he gave the

line another try...

[The rain in Spain falls mainly in the prane... plllane.] Ah,

much better indeed. He ignored the strange looks people were giving him

as he strolled down some street he didn't know anything about. Why he was

heading in that direction was another thing entirely. That way lead to

the docks, he knew. He could sense that certain peculiar humidity that

only a dock area could generate. And where there's docks, there's people

from all corners of the earth... maybe even a contingent from Japan.

He'd settle for Chinese at the moment too.

[A cupu tea... cupu tea... cup of tea... cup of tea]

His instincts alerted him of something approaching fast, and he

looked around anxiously, seeing very little in the dark of the night and

the unrelenting fog. But he heard footsteps...

Suddenly, from out of the fog, a familiar figure streaked towards

him. 'Gosling' lowered his glasses and focused... and grinned.

[Ishido... you troublemaker you. And the police right behind

you.] He twirled his umbrella, bringing the curved handle up to the

front, and began concentrating his ki...

Ishido turned the corner, with an army of THEM right behind him.

He blasted some of them down, but more and more of them came! They just

wouldn't stop! He ran as fast as he could down the street, when a nagging

feeling beyond the paranoia and fear he already had began to tug at him.

Something was wrong. But he didn't have _time_ to check, THEY were right

behind him. Just run, run, run away. Can't stop can't stop can't stop.

Suddenly, he felt something strike him at his legs, sending him

tumbling down. A ki blast? Looking around, dazed, he saw THEM piling up

on top of him, raining down a thousand blows with night-sticks before he

could get up and into a proper defensive position. The programming

wouldn't kick in _WHY WON'T THE PROGRAMMING KICK IN?_ as he struggled to

crawl away from Them. A few blows to the head later, he collapsed on the

floor, his fighting spirit exhausted. He could do nothing more than watch

as they restrained him in handcuffs and dragged him away.

Then, just before they tossed him into a wagon of some sort, he

saw it. Odd hat, thick glasses, overcoat... it didn't hide WHO was under

there, to him. A skinny young man with large eyes, twirling an umbrella

in one hand, waving good-bye with the other, and grinning like a jackal.

"RYO!" he yelled, trying to find one last ounce of strength to get

over there and strike him down once and for all. A few police baton

strikes later, he was beyond caring.

Muhoshin sighed in satisfaction, a job well done. Poor, poor

Ishido... whoever the hell he was. It was annoying already that he knew

enough to blow his cover. If that Ishido was indeed a face from _his_

future, it must be quite an unpleasant one.

Now... back to practice... some more conventional phrases.

[Yew bloody arse hole... Yew bloody arse hole... shut up, ye

wanker... shut up, ye wanker...]

It wasn't perfect, thought Ratiko, but it was at the very least a

very peaceful, quiet spot where he could get some much deserved rest. At

the moment, he was actually a she... a female fruit-bat, to be exact.

He'd crept into the old church, amazingly undetected, and eventually made

his way to the roof, where the bell tower was. He heard that bats hung

around in bell towers, so he guessed that he'd be rather inconspicuous

there. In the corner of the tower his gear was stashed, while he used a

little water that they left lying around in the church to transform.

And so that's how he was at his current position, hanging upside

down, in a nice, peaceful, quiet bell tower.

*DIIIIIING*DOOOOOONG*DIIIIIIING*DOOOOOOONG*

In a small, isolated alley, there was a man attending to his

business... a most righteous business, if anyone asked him.

He cut, slowly, around the curves of her skin. Cut, with a

surgeon's precision, peeling away the lies of her beauty until the REAL her

was shown. The bloody, dirty, filthy bitchslutwhore.

But but but before he left her... he had to have a souvenir.

And so he cut...

With a modest amount of tea and biscuits in him, Muhoshin's mood

was a little lighter. Now that nourishment was out of the way, lodgings

for the night had to be attended to... and that would cost more money.

And that, it seemed to him, would require another robbery. He sighed,

disliking the task. It was so... so petty. Murder for hire was so much

more profitable, obviously. Robbery was a gamble. What if they had

nothing? Then he committed a crime, possibly risking the punishments, but

getting no rewards at all.

He had to pick his target _carefully_.

He sprung to the rooftops, spying the empty streets below, waiting

for the perfect target. Soon after, a young lady walked by. No, no good.

They can scream fast, it attracts too much attention, and she doesn't look

well-to-do at all. A drunkard walked by, but no, he looked poor as well.

Too bad, drunks made for easy prey.

Ah... here's a fellow. His clothes were fairly clean, and in good

shape as well. He appeared to be a gentleman in his 30's perhaps, walking

with nervousness, clutching a bag of some sort. Yes, much nervousness.

May be a sign he's carrying a little too much money in his pockets... or

something more valuable.

Oh yes, this one would do.

Muhoshin stalked his prey until he was walking along a row of

warehouses by the docks. If worse came to worse, he could toss'em into

the river, but he hoped this would be a clean robbery.

He leapt, snapping open his umbrella, and glided down a few feet

behind the unsuspecting target. Snapping his umbrella shut, he quietly

stalked his target further, until he was within striking distance, then

snuck silently behind the man.

He pressed the blade of the umbrella to his back.

[Hands up.]

The man froze.

[Put your hands up. Give me your money. Now.]

With an alarming quickness, the stranger whirled around, away from

the umbrella blade, and lunged wildly with a long, wicked knife. Muhoshin

frowned, not appreciating the uncooperativeness of the fellow, and

promptly slashed his arm, his knee, and his forehead in a few blazingly

quick strokes. No deadly cuts, but very incapacitating ones.

To his surprise, the man still did not cry for help.

"Well, let's see what we have got, hm?" he said to himself,

calming the man down by kicking him in the back of the head. The jacket

had a few items that looked like currency. Good, good. A pocket watch as

well, very nice. Now about this doctor's bag... He opened it up, finding

some miscellaneous metal instruments... all bloody. He wondered about

that briefly, then saw a jar.

"Oh... now this is disgusting."

The man blinked, groggily. Then he felt panic. WHO WAS THIS that

was handling his items? His tools? His weaponry of his holy crusade? HOW

DARE HE!

Muhoshin stepped back in surprise as the map grabbed his knife

once more with the uninjured arm and swung at him. Muhoshin fixed the

situation by slashing the other arm, then punted the fellow into the

river. Would he drown? would he swim? Muhoshin didn't care. Stupid

gaijins...

And so, the glorious return of Jack The Ripper took an unexpected

turn, and ended with a gurgle, instead of a bang.

FROM THE NOTES OF INSPECTOR MACNAUGHTEN:

The witness a Miss Elizabeth Marshall of about 35 years of age &amp;

with family had described seeing upon the night of September 24, 1892,

was walking home late at night when she heard sounds of a struggle nearby

and a splash. She had peered carefully and seen in darkness a man,

approximately five feet and six inches in height, wearing a cloth hat of

some sort, perhaps a bowler, dark overcoat, with large glasses. He held

in hand a large knife of sorts and a jar. Upon seeing the lady, the man

had 'sprung away, up over the rooftops'. (Spring-heeled Jack?)

Upon further examination of the knife, it was covered in blood and

had quite many finger prints upon it. The doctor's bag, found lying

nearby, also had many medical instruments, also bloody. Upon the jar was

found a liver, preserved in wine. Later that night, the body of a Miss

Irene Davenport was found in Wilmot Alley. She was strangled and

dissected in methods which shall be covered in detail in the autopsy

report. However, in general, the techniques were very much reminiscent of

a previous case that began in the year of 1888, and was presumed ended.

Could the Ripper be back?

THE NEXT MORNING...

Ratiko woke up in a rotten mood. If one was to ask, he'd say

'woke up' would be an exaggeration. Every hour, on the hour,

*DIIIING*DOOOONG*DIIIIING*DOOOONG* over and over and over. His sleep was

ruined every hour, and what little rest that he did get wasn't nearly

enough. When he closed his eyes, he heard BELLS BELLS BELLS.

It wasn't so much that he woke up, as he gave up on passing out in

intervals. He squeaked (tried to sigh) and made his way around the

church, looking for a possible source of hot water...

Muhoshin woke up in a sour mood. He felt ill after realising WHAT

was in that jar, and worse yet, he still didn't have enough money for

lodgings. Paying with blood-stained currency would probbably NOT go well

with the natives. And thus, he spent the night next to a chimney on the

roof. His back was sore, and the sight of the sun as the first thing in

the morning was not something he enjoyed.

He rose, stretching to get all those sore spots out of his back,

and gave himself a look-over, making sure no blood was on his clothing. He

had a bad feeling that he was now a murder suspect, and he didn't really

want that.

{Oh well... let's see what we can find in the docks... perhaps a

passage to Japan?}

Ishido woke up in a sour mood. He had recovered from last night's

beating, and the beating he took when they brought him to the building,

and the attempted beating his cell-mate (who was currently in a

bludgeon-induced sleep himself) had tried to give him...

The reason he was annoyed was because THEY were back, yelling in

their foreign tongue that he didn't understand, prodding him up on his

feet... if his hands weren't bound, he knew he could beat them all.

[Where's this one headed to, eh?]

[Think he's goin' to the sanatorium, he is.]

[Good. Ye shoulda seen what the bloody bastard did last night.]

[What, 'e bloody Jack the Ripper or something?]

[No, he bloody blasted down a buncha fellas inna flash'o light.]

[...]

[Wot?]

[Ye been drinkin' again, Tom. Don't deny it.]

Ratiko wandered (for any Hibiki, there was no other way to travel)

through the alien town, feeling a hunch that he should follow his

instincts for once. After a few minutes he found himself in a dock

amongst several large ships and a swarming crowd of people. Amongst the

noises, he thought he recognised... Chinese?

He knew Chinese.

Well... he knew Chinese better than English.

What that meant was basically that he flunked Chinese with a

higher grade than what he flunked English with. He approached one

gathering of people, all appearing to be from China, and asked... [excuse,

shoe nyah duck spring?]

The Chinese stared at him like he was an idiot.

[Maybe he's Japanese?] wondered one of them.

[No, he's an idiot.]

"Japanese! I'm Japanese!" said Ratiko, jumping up and down

happily.

[Well, I guess he's Japanese.]

[He could be an idiot anyways.]

[Oh well, let's see what he wants... I know a little Japanese.]

"What you need?"

Before he could say anything, Ratiko's stomach growled.

"Oh, you want food?" the man guessed. "You go beg for money. It

done all the time." And with that, they ignored him again.

[What'd you tell him?]

[He was hungry, I told him to beg.]

[Man, that's cruel. Ya think he's gonna do it?]

[Moneeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeey! Want moneeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeey!

Need moneeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeey! Give money, ne?]

[God, that's pathetic.]

Muhoshin wrinkled his nose at the wretched smell of the docks.

The waters were absolutely filthy with pollution, and the smoke stacks

didn't help much either. What he was looking for was a passage to Japan,

but where...

[Moneeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeey!]

... where does one look...

[Want moneeeeeeeeeeeey!]

... for a passage...

[Need moneeeeeeeeeeeeeey!]

... to Japan?

[Give money, ne?]

Muhoshin started cursing under his breath (in English, of course,

to fit in, with much 'bloody' and 'soddin' and 'wanker' talk used) and

wondered WHO on earth was making that ridiculous noise. It was absolutely

pathetic, whatever it was. As he snaked through the crowds, he saw who it

was...

[Ratiko!] Muhoshin eyed the Hibiki with scorn. What was this?

Reduced to begging for money in the street? THIS was the genetic heir to

his great and fearsome foe? This must be a fluke! Muhoshin edged his way

through the crowds, fighting for minutes through the swarming people,

trying to reach him, when Ratiko suddenly bolted into the buildings, and

was soon out of sight of him. He found himself disoriented in a sea of

humanity...

[How sickening, a Hibiki gets ME lost,] he thought scornfully.

"Childra! Where've you been?!"

"Tell you later, lad," mumbled Childra as the two of them squeezed

into a door-frame. "Just be quiet or the police will get us!"

"But-"

"Shh!" She slapped a hand over his mouth, stifling his brief cry

of pain, as two men dressed in police uniforms strolled by, walking with

what looked like a civilian in a brown long jacket, hat, and tobacco pipe,

and a more elderly gentleman in grey clothes. She recognised them as

Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, mainly because she'd had to deal with them

before. She didn't want to deal with them now.

[What's that? You say the Ripper is back?] said Holmes, sounding

doubtful.

[Yes, Mr. Holmes. A Miss Irene Davenport, down at Wilmot Alley.]

[Witnesses?]

[Yessir, we have a witness in custody right now. Says she saw the

man with the murder weapon dash off.]

[Hm... well, no use mulling over it until I see more facts] said

Holmes. [Let's head to the station, shall we? Now, Gregson, you were

saying?]

[We've incarcerated a most peculiar individual last night. I was

wondering if you could perhaps shed some light on his modus operandi?]

[Oh? Describe this fellow again?] asked Holmes.

[He's an oriental fellow of some sort, dressed most raggedly. One

of our men tried to arrest him for vagrancy when, and you shan't believe

this, the man began glowing red! Quite a few witnesses testified to him

somehow creating a burst of light as well. Perhaps he's a pyrotechnician

of some sort?]

[A possibility, Gregson, a possibility - but only that. It is

a capital mistake to theorise in advance of the evidence,] replied

Holmes. [Where is he being held? The station, I assume? Or have

you already moved him to the sanatorium?]

[As a matter of fact... we were going to send him to the

sanatorium. Seems he's out of his mind. Just babbles, sneers, and

struggles to get out of his bonds.]

[When will he be moved?] inquired Holmes.

[Before nightfall, I should think. Hopefully within the next two

hours.]

[I think I shall have a talk with our little pyrotechnic 'friend'.

Ah, there's our cab. To the station!]

From their hideout in the alley, Childra and Ratiko peeked out

cautiously.

"Are they gone?" asked Ratiko.

"Yeah, they're gone." Childra sighed wearily. "Blast it all...

Ishido got himself caught."

"What?!"

"Those were police... they were talking about how they caught

Ishido. Great. Just great."

"Well... what'll we do now?"

Childra scowled. "Gosh Rat, I don't know. Rescue him, maybe?"

An hour later, Childra and Ratiko stood near the police

station, trying to stay inconspicuous. They were both reading newspapers

and leaning against a wall a block away from the station, keeping an eye

out for any carriages that passed by.

"Ratiko!" hissed Childra.

"What?!"

"You're holding your newspaper upside down!"

"Oh."

They waited, and watched, until finally they saw him.

Ishido looked ragged. It was obvious that they'd beaten him, but

somehow he seemed to have recovered, because he seemed fully alert and

awake.

"Childra!" hissed Ratiko.

"I see him, Rat."

"What'll we do?"

Childra worked out the problem in her head as Ishido was dragged,

in chains, into a wagon.

"Ratiko."

"What?"

"Get ready to run."

"What?! Childra, what're you-"

"We're going to hitch a ride. Now c'mon, walk this way."

The coach driver noticed something was wrong... it all started

when the people he was driving by pointed to the back of his wagon,

chattering and waving. He thought perhaps the citizenry was on it's

moronic streak again and drove on...

After a few more miles, he felt something at the back of his neck.

Something very solid.

[Do NOT turn around] said a female voice, accented in German.

[W-wot d'you wont?]

[Drive.]

[Um, where to, miss?]

[Drive to... Blackfriars.]

"Childra, where are we going to?"

"Blackfriars. It's a fairly quiet part of town. We should be

able to hide there without trouble."

"Well... hope you're right.

"Trust me."

"And what about that Gosunkugi guy?" wondered Ratiko.

Childra's face fell from one of confidence to one of fatigue.

"It's always SOMETHING! I guess we'll have to find him."

Muhoshin peered from the rooftops, not pleased with the turn of

events thus far. He guessed that his face would be on wanted posters soon

enough if that woman had a good enough look at him. He should have

silenced her... should have... but no. He wasn't an indiscriminate

killer... actually he wasn't a killer. He could get rather mean, but he'd

never consciously made an attempt to kill anyone. Just... severely impede

them.

He couldn't stay here.

There wouldn't be another Jackie Chan film made in... almost a

hundred years.

The sound of hooves snapped him out of his contemplation, and he

gazed down, much like a vulture, to see what was about. Then he smiled.

"Oh, what's this what's this?" he crowed. Below, he saw a carriage

approaching rapidly, with a rather nervous looking driver. The reason he

was nervous was obvious... he had a rather large stick aimed at his skull.

And who was holding that weapon? Childra 'I'll call you Gosling' Jansen.

My my my. He sensed a profiteer's spirit in her, and so what else could

be in that carriage but some rather interesting loot? He tossed off the

clothes that he 'borrowed', opened his umbrella and glided downward,

timing his descent juuuust right...

"We're almost there," said Childra.

"Hey, what's that?" wondered Ratiko.

"What's what?" asked Childra.

Ratiko pointed behind them and upwards, "what's tha*UGH*"

Childra turned around, surprised to see Gosling land, his feet

right on Ratiko's face. "Oh... um, sorry about that," he said timidly,

while fumbling to close his umbrella. "Hi guys, what's going on?"

"We're making a getaway," said Childra. "Where've you been?"

"Well... kinda lost," he said sheepishly.

"Hey, sure you're not part Hibiki by blood?" teased Childra.

'Gosling' grit his teeth, but tried to smile. "Aheh, no."

Muhoshin eyed the policeman... that, to him, was excess baggage...

something had to be done.

"WHAT'S THAT!" he yelled, cowering in terror.

Childra and Ratiko turned around. In one smooth motion, Muhoshin

stepped forward and whapped the driver in the head, rendering him

unconscious and he quickly fell off and into the road.

"What the-" started Childra, watching the officer's body bounce

in the distance.

"Um, guess he fell off," said Gosling, with a genuinely puzzled

look on his face. "Who was that guy, anyone you know?"

"No... excess baggage, actually. It's better that he left."

A few minutes later, they rode into a very desolate part of town.

It seemed as if it should have been populated, but nobody was on the

streets.

"Ah, good old Blackfriars, as empty as ever," said Childra. "I

think we can stop here." She brought the carriage to a stop, then walked

towards the back, followed by Childra, Ratiko, and 'Gosling'.

"So, what've we got in the back?" asked Muhoshin happily. "Gold?

Money? Some interesting artefact?"

Childra smashed the lock of the doors with her bo and swung open

the doors. Going in carefully, she reached a hand forward. "Hey, it's

okay, it's me, Childra."

Suddenly, Gosling went a shade paler than usual. [It CAN'T BE!

NO!]

Ishido was waiting.

This world, this city, this place, it was crawling EVERYWHERE with

THEM. He could break out now, but THEY would be there. They were ALWAYS

there. No, he'd wait, bide his time, until he saw the wild open country,

THEN he'd break free. Then, for some reason, the carriage stopped.

He felt a moment of hope. Could it be? Could someone have

rescued him from THEM? The doors opened slowly, and light poured in. A

figure, feminine in shape, reached out a hand towards him.

"It's okay, Ishido."

No it wasn't. THEY were out there.

"It's me. Childra."

Childra? The girl...

"Come on, it's okay, you can trust me."

He reached out, carefully, holding her hand.

"Now come on, it's time to leave this place."

Yes. Leave. That's good.

He stepped out, holding her hand tight.

'Gosling' watched nervously, as Ishido stepped out of the

carriage. His stomach sunk quickly at that sight and feared that Ishido

might start acting up again. That was the last thing he needed.

Ishido stepped out, holding Childra's hand. He squinted in the

sunlight, then looked around. Finally, his gaze stopped on Muhoshin.

"Aheh... h-hi." 'Gosling' smiled nervously and waved.

Ishido stared at him with narrow eyes.

"Ishido? Hey, come on, it's only Gosling," comforted Childra.

That seemed to ease him, and he turned away from 'Gosling' at last.

"Come on guys, let's see if our luck gets better," said Childra,

as they were all enveloped in cerulean flame...

Ryo Saotome sat in front of the television, fuming. There was no

use searching Nerima. She was GONE. Damn her! That Childra was GONE, way

GONE, as in another reality entirely GONE. Nope, no use pacing around the

neighbourhood. Instead, he tried something he didn't do often: lose

himself in the harmonic messages of the television.

It wasn't working.

Nabiki was hogging the television, and at the moment she seemed to

be in a literary mood, watching a special on Sherlock Holmes. Something

about sharpening of the mind, she said. He blinked, wondering why they

were treating Holmes as if he was a real character. He watched further...

and apparently Sherlock Holmes WAS real in this reality... hm. That was

neat.

He surrendered to the fact that the channel would NOT change, and

watched.

/And so the case of the Rat of Sumatra.../

_Rat_?! Ratiko?! No, couldn't be..._

/was solved, with the hanging of Neville St.-Claire. However,

modern criminologists believe that the true identity of Miss Kraussinger

was NOT that of St.-Claire, but of a third party, yet unidentified.../

On the screen was an police sketch of a familiar looking girl,

blonde, short hair...

"CHILDRA!"

MEGATOKYO, AQUA CITY. 7:56pm

In the waning hours of sunset within a dark alley, a flash of blue

light flared briefly, and four dazed individuals were left in its wake.

They looked around, cautiously, then crept out of the alley slowly.

"Looks modern... but abandoned," observed 'Gosling'.

"He's right," said Ratiko, "there's streets and buildings

everywhere, but no signs of people. Looks like they abandoned the place."

Childra thought a moment. Could they have ended up in Chernobyl?

It was the only case of abandoned city that she knew of.

"I'm gonna g-go get a better view," said Muhoshin. He ascended a

nearby fire escape slowly and cautiously, then stood at the top of a three

story building, gazing around. "We're near civilisation," he called to

the others below, "because there's lots of light down that way, a-and I

see some of them flying."

"How far from us?" asked Childra.

"Um... maybe ten miles."

Ten miles... not a bad walk, but not a great walk, and everyone

knew that Ishido needed time to recover. Rat probably did to, since he

seemed to be twitching every now and then and muttering something about

bells. "Have a look inside that building, Gosling. If it's clear, I

wanna take a rest in there."

"Okay."

"Be careful!" she called out. "We'll be looking around at the

ground floors and working our way up."

[Careful, right. Call me Gosling some more and let's see who

needs to be careful.]

Muhoshin made his way through a shattered window and entered.

Through the dimness he could see rubble, bits of metal, newspapers... and

a light switch.

[We couldn't be so lucky,] mused Muhoshin as he cautiously reached

for the switch. To his amazement, the lights turned on. "Well, that's a

surprise," he muttered. 'Gosling' picked up a newspaper and read it,

trying to discern when and where they were now.

"Megatokyo... 2034?"

"Hey, Gosling, everything okay here?" asked Childra as she entered

the room with Ishido and Ratiko. "Well, we've got electricity!"

"H-hi, Childra. Yeah, seems clear. Have a look at this

newspaper."

"Hm... 2034? Megatokyo? Well... it's better than London. We'll

see about getting some supplies in the morning. For now, let's get some

rest."

GENOM TOWER. 4:30am

"Are all the boomers in place?"

"Yessir."

"Observation cameras?"

"They're ready to go."

"Sensors?"

"All functional."

"All right then... let's not screw this up. The old man's in a bad

mood already. Fire'em up."

KNIGHT SABRE HQ. 4:35am

Three figures sat in a darkened living room while a fourth stood

up next to a screen, flickering with data and details.

"Now, we know that someone inside GENOM fled with a data disk

containing some incriminating evidence approximately twenty hours ago. He

was brought to police custody a while later, but without the disk. He

demanded to make a deal with the police. An hour ago, he was killed."

An image of a scrawny man, looking forever nervous appeared on the

screen. "This was that man, Ken Fujisawa. He was a part of the research

and development team looking into new forms of bio-mechanics. We don't

know why he fled from GENOM, but the bottom line is that he did."

"Lemme guess, we're after his disk?" asked one brown-haired

individual in biker gear.

"That's right, Priss."

"Any ideas where he hid it?" asked a red-haired girl in police

uniform.

"I was about to get to that, Nene. The police picked him up on

the outskirts of what's left of Aqua City. There's still quite a few

abandoned buildings over there. If it's a standard GENOM disk, it should

have a beacon that can be sensed when you get within 200 meters of it."

"Anyone offering money for what's on that disk?" queried a girl

with short black hair and a headband.

"No, Linna, at least not yet," said Sylia, "only the police, us,

and GENOM know about this. But I'm sure that other parties will be

interested later... if we decide to sell it." She looked at the clock,

frowning. "Well, let's move out. Best to search around while the city is

asleep."

"Well, we were sleeping too a few minutes ago," grumbled Priss."

4:53am

'Gosling' awoke, something nagging at his senses. He looked

around the dark room to check on his 'travelling companions'. Childra was

by the window, still asleep. Ratiko was a few feet away, snoring. And

Ishido...

He tensed up. Ishido was sitting up, next to Childra, as if

watching over her. Unfortunately, the angle that Ishido was in made it

unclear whether or not his eyes were open.

"ZZZZZzzz..."

He breathed a sigh of relief. Apparently, Ishido slept with his

eyes open. Muhoshin stood up carefully and made his way to the stairs.

On the way there, he felt something underneath his feet that shone in the

darkness briefly. Bending down, he picked it up and dusted it off.

[A disk of some sort?]

Pocketing the item, he made his way out into the darkness of the

night. 'Gosling' decided that a small walk was just the thing to relax

his nerves.

Ishido moved. He'd been awakened by the sound of movement,

and his years on the run made him an incredibly light sleeper. He

looked around and noticed that 'Gosling' was gone.

Of course, he was suspicious.

MAYBE his head was messed up, MAYBE he was wrong, but he felt

strongly that 'Gosling' WAS in fact Ryo Muhoshin. Making sure that his

possible enemy wasn't too near, Ishido crept out and tried to follow. By

the time he stood on the street, however, 'Gosling' was long gone.

And then disaster struck.

Priss turned her motoslave thrusters on as six blue C-55 combat

boomers blazed in pursuit. She dodged and fired, taking a few out, while

yelling in her microphone, "Shit! Sylia, I thought this was just gonna be

a simple look and find! Somebody gimme a hand!"

/I've got my hands full too/ replied Linna.

/Somebody help!/ screamed Nene.

/Hold on Nene, I'm near you/ replied Sylia.

"Just great, now SOMEBODY HELP ME!" growled Priss. Then, a blip

appeared on his screen. "Guys! I've got a trace on the disk! I'm goin'

for it!"

/Be careful, Priss/ warned Sylia.

"Aren't I always?"

/Priss, this is Linna. I've got the signal too. See you

there./

"Right, right, just get over there!"

She zoomed by as a confused looking young man stood in front of an

abandoned building. The boomers opened fire with their cannons... she

dodged left... and the building exploded.

**YOU THERE, STAY WHERE YOU ARE**

Muhoshin froze as several spotlights suddenly snapped open and

aimed at him. A few blocks away, the sounds of battle raging a few blocks

away. He couldn't see exactly what had those spotlights on him, but it

was obviously humanoid, blue, and nearly ten feet tall.

**HAND OVER THE DISK**

[Uh, oh.]

"W-wait a-" He spun his umbrella nervously. That, he would think

later, might have been a bad idea. Maybe it made them nervous?

**OPEN FIRE**

In the dark, he saw several red panels opening up, slowly glowing

brighter. "Eh?" He jumped up and over them, just as the panels flared

suddenly, and the wall where he stood before was reduced to rubble. The

spotlights dimmed and his attackers were revealed. Androids, big hulking

androids of some sort. Not good. He did a quick check on a few things

that were... holding him back. No Childra in sight, no Ratiko, and no

Ishido. Nothing to hold him back.

Good.

As he twisted in mid-air, he spun his umbrella, it's curved handle

beginning to glow a bright yellow. "RYUGEKI-KEN!" He whipped his

umbrella forward, and a boomerang-shaped wave of energy lashed out,

smashing one of the androids in the head. It stumbled back and forth,

while the others advanced. Muhoshin gave them all examining glances, and

grinned with glee at what he saw. He turned his umbrella to it's bladed

point, laughing in the joy of finally being able to cut loose.

[What is this that I see? Well, well, well...]

"BAKUSAI TEN-KETSU!"

Ishido ducked as the blasts of light raced towards him and smashed

into the building. He leaped away to a nearby rooftop, then watched in

horror as the building crumbled and collapsed.

"Childra..."

She was still in there... the one that saved him.

"CHILDRAAAAA!"

With the rage searing through him, he felt it coming back. His

programming, slowly taking over him. Ishido's soul retreated to a small

corner of his mind, while something else moved in. This time, he didn't

fight it. As the boomers flew by, one of them paused, sensing an energy

build-up. It stopped and turned, where it spotted a figure standing on a

rooftop, surrounded by a mysterious energy field of bright red.

From a Genom Tower control room, several eyes watched in amazement

as two un-armoured figures began cutting a path of destruction through the

ranks of boomers. The door to the room opened suddenly, and a purple

haired lady with an aura of authority, Madigan, strode in, looking

agitated that she had to be awakened so early in the morning.

"What's our status?" she snapped as she took the command seat.

"We've got the Knight Sabres in pursuit, 30 C-55 boomers deployed

to the site, and we've found the data disk," said one lackey.

"And...?"

"Well... it's in the possession of... well.. we can't explain it.

Have a look yourself, monitor 15." Madigan looked at the screen, and

narrowed her eyes. "Also something... well... like it... on monitor 23".

Muhoshin spun in the air gracefully, landing in a dramatic pose on

bent knee. Behind him, two boomers slowly turned around.

"Did I forget to say... bakusai ten-ketsu?" A moment later, the

armoured plating on the robots exploded in a fury, spraying shrapnel,

liquid, and smoke everywhere. When the explosions stopped, what was left

was two armour-less, shaking, sparking boomers, with their wiring and

mechanics fully exposed and a lot of it damaged by the explosions.

Muhoshin took a moment to thank the amazons whom he'd swiped the breaking

point technique from. Without it, he knew he'd probably be dead at the

moment, or running.

The almost armour-less androids stumbled forward unsteadily, and

he charged at them with glee, shouting "BANZAIIII!" He launched himself

in the air, slashing, cutting numerous tubes on one, then spearing through

the head of the other with his umbrella. He landed, again, in dramatic

fashion, as the two machines collapsed.

"Feh."

As he turned away, he saw a figure in a blue armoured suit blaze

towards him, followed by four more androids. The berzerker rage in him

identified them immediately as more targets to maul, and gave them a

predatorial glare.

Two armoured figures sprinted across the rooftops, with a pack of

boomers in hot pursuit.

"Nene."

"What?!"

"On the count of three, jump high and aim for the one on the left.

I want to start making the odds a little more fair."

"Right."

"On three... one... two.. what the hell is that?!"

The two Knight Sabres jumped high as a mauled smoking wreck of a

boomer was flung at them. The smoking mechanical corpse smashed into the

pack of boomers, denting one of them and scattering the others into an

unorganised pack. They all stared ahead, where a young man stood, looking

full of fury and glowing an eerie shade of red stood. In one hand he held

a boomer arm. The boomers all focused on him and began analysing a plan

of attack. Nene and Sylia steered clear of both parties, as it became

clear by the way the boomers were behaving that they'd decided to focus on

the stranger instead.

"Nene, what is that thing?!"

"I... my scanners say he's just a human. That's odd."

With a growl, the stranger flung the arm at them. They dodged to

the left and kept their distance, which caused him to turn his focus to

the four boomers, who the arm DID hit. Two of them opened their

mouth-cannons while the other two took to the skies in a huge jump. The

stranger merely stood there defiantly... and his glow became brighter.

"Sylia, we've got to rescue that guy!" said Nene.

"No, wait... something's strange here."

The boomers opened fire with their cannons and two beams of energy

ploughed through the air. The stranger held two arms up defensively, and a

a red shield emerged, deflecting the beams and sending it around him as if

it was water flowing by a rock. He managed to hold his ground for a few

seconds, then was knocked off his feet and blown back several meters. The

boomers made odd mechanical sounds, as if cheering in victory. Then,

suddenly, the stranger stood up and charged at them, yelling like a wild

man.

"He's... still alive?" marvelled Nene. She checked her scanners

and found that the mystery figure was putting out incredible amounts of

energy of some sort.

Sylia watched silently as Ishido charged on what appeared to be a

suicide run. One boomer stepped forward and wound up a giant fist. The

man brought his own back in an obvious attempt to trade punches.

"He's crazy!" said Nene.

"He should've been dead already," said Sylia. "Stay back, I think

we're about to see something interesting. And Nene, runs your scans on

him, every single one."

With a battle cry of "ROU-SOU-KEN!" Ishido's fist flared with

bright red light, and for a brief moment... it looked like it took the

form of a giant wolf's paw. His punch slammed into the boomer's fist,

shattering it. As it staggered back, he held both hands in front of him,

the energy gathering in his two hands. "RYO-SOU-DAN!" was heard as he

suddenly released a bolt of energy that punched through that first boomer

and one other. Both collapsed in smoking heaps. The other two took a

step back and analysed their opponent. Meanwhile, Ishido's

'programming' buzzed a warning: that shield took quite a lot of effort,

he'd have to end this, hopefully in the next thirty minutes. His mind

formulated the next steps, and he continued...

"Who ARE these people?!" yelled Madigan. "What do the scanners

say?!"

A nervous technician turned around in his seat. "W-well... the

one with the data disk... is human."

"That can't be! The man jumps OVER boomers."

"And his umbrella.. well... the fabric on it is interesting, but

everything else on it is ordinary metal."

"Our sensors must be faulty! You can't tell me you're not picking

up anything on the other one!"

"W-well... he's also human."

Madigan scowled. "EXPLAIN THAT!" she yelled as the figure blasted

two boomers with a sudden flash of energy.

"I... he... well, he generated a high amount of energy, but we

don't know HOW he did it... and we don't see any portable generators on

him. That kind of energy should've burned HIM up."

"This is too interesting to pass up. Order the boomers to capture

them as well."

Priss turned around briefly to check on her pursuers, making sure

she had a good lead on them. As she did that, the beeping of the data

disk tracker got her attention. Apparently it was moving... towards her?

"What the-"

She turned around just in time to see a pale, skinny teen with a

maniacal grin leap up and nail her in the helmet with something that

was glowing. Stunned, she fell to the floor, then felt herself getting

picked up.

"Hey! What the hell are you doing!?"

"Shh, you'll ruin my concentration," the figure said. Before she

could reply, he flung her away, and right into one of the boomers. She

got up slowly, but the boomer's head was caved in. The three other

boomers ignored Priss and charged at the stranger, who showed absolutely

no signs of panic at all.

"Priss!"

"Hey, Linna, over here."

"What happened to you?" Linna helped Priss to her feet and looked

her over for any severe damage.

"Dunno. Some jerk hit me outta the air and flung me at him,"

she said, pointing to the wrecked boomer. "Must be some rival corporation

boomer or somethin'. If that's the case, let them slug it out, I'll just

pick off the survivors."

Linna looked to where Priss was indicating, where she saw the

young man dance around the boomers, tapping them at points with the end of

his umbrella every now and then, followed by unexplainable and violent

explosions on the boomer's armour. She took an initial scan of him, and was

surprised.

"Priss, that guy's human." That was Linna's first surprise. The

second was that he was apparently dodging those boomer attacks with ease.

The third was when one of the boomers started to explode. "He's human,

and he just destroyed a boomer, Priss. That can't be right."

"Your sensors are messed up."

As they argued, another boomer shuddered as it exploded, leaving

in it's wake the raw skeleton of a boomer, with tubes mangled or leaking,

and mechanical muscles left unprotected. The stranger slashed twice, his

blade flaring with some undetectable energy, and the boomer collapsed on

the floor, it's guts undone.

/Priss? Linna? This is Sylia. We've got a strange situation

down here./

"Oh? Can't be stranger than ours," said Linna.

/There's an ordinary human tearing down boomers here./

"Oh, you too?"

"It can't be right," said Priss. "No way."

"What should we do?" asked Linna.

/I don't know what on earth those things are... they look human,

but they're obviously something different. Keep your distance, and see if

you can reason with it. I'll do the same here./

"Okay," said Linna. "Anything else?"

/Where's that data disk?/

"The humanoid thing's got it," said Linna.

/Not good. Be careful, you two./

"Of course," said Priss.

"Priss, he just took down two more boomers..."

Priss finally got to scanning the figure herself, as she muttered,

"Oh shit, my sensors say he's human."

"... and he's throwing a piece of that boomer at us. LOOK

OUT!" The pair opened fire and reduced the boomer to trash before it

reached them. "Hey, where'd he go?" wondered Linna, before getting nailed

by a flying jump kick.

Muhoshin regarded these two with some interest. They seemed to be

more promising in terms of entertainment value than those large, clumsy

monstrosities. He looked their armour over, and yes, as with the rest of

the mechanised warriors around here, her (the robot seemed to be her,

given its *ahem* attributes) and her companion's metal surface had had

breaking points all over it.

"All right, fight time!" Priss cracked her knuckles and charged in

recklessly. She'd faced down Largo before, and this kid didn't look like

any Largo. And as for the sensor readings? Sensors could always be

deceived. This was Just Another Boomer.

"Priss! Wait!" Linna chased after them as Priss pushed the

stranger back quickly. Priss sent him retreating far with a thruster

assisted flying kick, followed by a quick series of punches, kicks, and

sweeps. The umbrella-wielding stranger retreated quickly under the

barrage, dodging most attacks, getting flung back far by the ones that he

did block with his umbrella. Priss began wondering why he didn't attack

when he suddenly jumped over her while she lashed out with a kick. She

felt several light taps as he poked her repeatedly at lightning speed with

his umbrella in the outstretched leg, shoulder, then back. She quickly

checked her leg... the blade didn't cut through. Then she heard something

slowly cracking...

Linna caught up to them as they finally stopped battling across

the deserted city, just in time to see the stranger leap over Priss and

tap at her several times. The stranger sprang several yards away,

landing in a ready stance, as Priss turned around slowly.

"Priss, you okay?"

"What's with these cracks...AAAUGH!" Suddenly, the armour on

Priss's leg, shoulder, and back exploded violently. Shards of armour

shattered her face-plate and cut through the power-suit mechanics

underneath. The shock of the explosion slammed into her body and leg like

a direct hit from a boomer punch. Priss collapsed, her systems failing.

"PRISS!"

"Ow..." Her systems were still operational, but those explosions

were surprisingly painful, jarring her badly. Priss tried to get up but

couldn't.

Linna moved to a ready stance, eyeing her opponent warily.

Whoever that was, it was clear that he was far more dangerous than he

looked. She would definitely have to avoid getting tapped by his

umbrella.

He seemed to notice her stance and shifted into a more alert one

himself. "Martial artist?" he queried.

"Who are you?" she asked.

He looked thoughtful for a moment, as if thinking of the right

answer, then said, "A tourist."

"Who do you work for?" asked Linna, advancing slowly, noting her

opponent's stance. Muy Thai... somewhat... although muy thai doesn't

normally involve weaponry. Odd.

"Work for? Nobody. And you?"

"You don't need to know."

The stranger smirked, twirling his umbrella idly. "Fun city," he

muttered to no-one in particular.

"I don't suppose you'd hand that disk over."

The stranger blinked. Absentmindedly, he fished out a disk from

his pocket. "Is THIS why everyone is chasing me?" He tossed it in the

air to Linna uncaringly. "Now that that's out of the way..." He began

twirling his umbrella at blurring speeds, the curved handle beginning to

glow. Linna's sensors picked up an energy build-up and dodged sideways as

the stranger whipped his umbrella forward, yelling "RYUGEKI-KEN!" A

streak of energy flashed out, past her, and slammed into an abandoned

building a few blocks away, creating a medium sized hole.

She closed the distance between the two, swinging with kicks and

punches which he managed to dodge or block with his umbrella. He struck

her a few times also, but her armour prevented it from being effective.

She charging up her knuckle-bomber, knowing that maybe it was excess

violence to use it on a human, but this wasn't a normal person at all.

Her fist sailed through air as the man ducked it, reeling back, and tapped

her fist with his umbrella as he backed off.

To her relief and his surprise, it didn't explode.

"Tsk, missed," she heard him mutter.

Muhoshin's thrill level rose further. These seemed to be real

peapole underneath, not those strategically handicapped monstrosities. And

better yet, this one was a martial artist. He wondered briefly what those

glowing ribbons were attached to that one's head, then found out

personally.

Ishido attacked, his soul buried beneath heartless, cold, and

analytical programming that directed his every movement. He saw the weak

areas in the boomer's structure, where he could strike with the most

effectiveness. He channelled ki energy that would otherwise be nearly

impossible for him to summon up and used it to empower every blow he

struck. His fists were raw from punching into steel but he tore through

the boomers in a matter of minutes, with only a bruise on the side coming

from the enemy. However, he didn't notice those things. The programming

ignored trivial things like pain.

Right now it was assessing threats... like those two menacingly

armoured figures a few feet away.

"Must be some sort of biological experiment," muttered Sylia. "Or

maybe it's a boomer that emits false scan information, that could be it."

"Um, Sylia, he's charging at us," Nene pointed out nervously.

The stranger was indeed descending on them, with an angry mask covering

the calculating thinking that was going on underneath.

"I think he's beyond reasoning. Nene, get ready to scramble."

She was always ready to scramble, but it had to be said anyways.

Sylia attempted to reason with the figure. "Hello! We're not

enemies, take it easy." It didn't' help that there was a weapon barrel

attached to her arm.

"ROU-SOU-DAN!" A red energy burst surged towards them. Sylia

managed to get slightly out of the way, but Nene took the brunt of the

blast, and was knocked unconscious after her suit flew back and hit a

wall. Her suit survived the impact just fine, but her head hit the wall

hard enough to knock her out.

Childra woke up, sore and very uncomfortable. [Ow... what on

earth happened to me NOW? And what's this on my...] She noticed that it

was the ceiling that was so close to her face. She looked around

slowly.

"Rat? You okay?"

"Zzzzzz..."

[Looks like it's just me... and this thing.] Sylia pulled out her

blade and circled her adversary warily. The stranger's visage became more

apparent to her now that they were up close and circling. His eyes shone

of violet, and his mouth sported small fang-like teeth that added to the

menace that his presence radiated. He charged forward, alight in a red

aura, lashing out with a blur of kicks and punches. To her surprise,

Sylia felt the blows _through_ the armour as she desperately wheeled back

and blocked what she could. She lashed out with a few punches of her own,

but Ishido dodged them, caught her arm, and struck at her elbow with a

fiery fist, causing her to yell in pain as she felt her joint overextend.

She activated her thrusters and tried to fly away, but he grabbed her by

the leg and slung her into a nearby building. As she got up unsteadily,

he began to glow brighter again, brighter than he did before. By the time

she did notice, it was too late.

"Tooboe-rou TOKKAN-SEN!" A gigantic and very solid-looking beam

of red burst from the stranger. It slammed into Sylia, sending her

through several buildings before she finally came to a stop. Her sensors

were all fried, armour cracked and totally gone in some places, and her

suit was flashing eminent failure warnings. She didn't feel so great

either, with the shock of the impact nearly paralysing her.

"Nene... Priss... Linna... help..."

"Great, just great. I take a brief nap, the building collapses on

us, and Gosling and Lobis go missing on me." Childra sighed, dragging

Ratiko out of the ruins. "Wake up already, you idiot."

Childra took a moment to slap Ratiko mercilessly until he woke up,

then led him by the hand as they went in search of the rest of their

'team'.

Ishido advanced on his enemy, his programming reminding him that

they would surely show no mercy, and thus he must show no mercy. Besides

which, he didn't have enough energy to go on much further. His adversary

must die, as soon as possible. A block away, a ruined armoured suit was

shambling to it's feet, occasionally falling to one knee. Ishido charged

his ki once more, intending to release a final attack on his foe.

Behind, and unnoticed by him, a red hardsuit unsteadily rose,

shaking its head.

"Ishido?"

The voice was barely audible amongst the crackling of the flames

around him, but he somehow heard it above all else.

It was _her_ voice.

Suddenly, the programming scrambled to the darkest corners of his

mind, and he slumped, feeling the pain of that one bruise on his side.

Wincing, he looked to her direction. "Childra! I... I thought you

were*UGH*" Ishido found himself airborne, with an incredibly sore jaw.

Childra sighed, watching her fellow traveller fly across the

skyline. "Great. C'mon, Rat. He went this way..."

The stranger went flying high, as the now recovered Nene slammed

an uppercut right into him. Nene was surprised, since she thought that

kind of punch should've taken his head off. For now, he was gone... and

she had to tend to Sylia.

"Priss? Linna? Hello?"

/I'm a LITTLE busy, Nene!/ shot back Linna

Linna smiled in satisfaction, seeing fear in his opponent's

eyes for the first time. Apparently that ribbon attack that slashed

through a nearby lamp post like butter also left a deep impression in his

mind.

The two sparred back and forth, neither getting the upper hand.

Linna was wary of that mysterious attack that shattered Priss's armour so

easily, and her opponent was reluctant to get near the ribbons, even when

they weren't charged.

Feeling frustrated at his lack of progress, Muhoshin stabbed

forward repeatedly, causing his armoured foe to stagger back quickly. He

kept up the attack, not wanting to give her a chance to use those ribbons.

Linna retreated quickly, dodging or deflecting the umbrella stabs.

Jumping back, she turned on her helmet ribbons once more and spun around,

forcing him to back off.

They were back where they started. Even.

Linna decided to mount an offence of her own and began with

twirling around once more, causing her ribbons to whip out. He was forced

to retreat and she followed with a quick series of kicks and punches. He

seemed to be distracted, looking side to side occasionally, while

retreating, then sprung backwards several yards. Linna hesitated as he

stood there. Then he waved his hand, taunting her to come near. "Oy, not

bad for a woman."

Linna charged at him, letting her whips clear the way first. He

jumped back again, but this time tapped the ground. She turned to face

him again when suddenly the ground beneath her exploded, sending concrete,

metal, and flames into the skies. Linna was struck with surprising force,

and flung into an adjacent building.

Muhoshin stared in surprise at the destruction he'd caused. "A

breaking point and a gas main. Lucky hit," he said with amusement.

'Gosling' advanced on his adversary, feeling more confident since it

seemed she was shocked badly and struggling to get up. It was obvious she

was weakened by that blast. He took a step forward, then kicked the suit

a few feet away.

It was then that his brain was rattled.

Linna looked up, too dazed to stand, as her enemy approached. The

suit was still functional, but the explosion had shaken her. Her foe

approached, smiling. His smile reminded her of a hyena, for some reason.

That's all that she could think of. His smile looks like a hyena's. What

a stupid thing, she thought, to think of now. _STAND UP, DAMMIT!_ She

found the strength to get up slightly, then got kicked away several feet.

Then she heard the sound of something really solid hitting something else

really solid. She looked up carefully, and saw that her enemy seemed to

have been hit in the head by, literally, someone else's head.

Ishido's head flashed with pain, again, as he landed on something

hard. Then he felt whatever he landed on collapse to the floor. Since he

wasn't in great shape either, Ishido joined him there.

Childra and Ratiko ran up to the unconscious pair quickly,

noticing that Ishido apparently made a few enemies while wandering around.

As she reached them, they became encased in blue flames. A woman in armour

nearby managed to stutter, "H-hey... who are you guys?"

"Don't worry, we're just leaving," said Childra with a smile.

And then they were gone.

The next day, 73 people named Ishido that were living in the

Megatokyo area were mysteriously kidnapped.

The data disk that the mysterious stranger had given to Linna was

ruined. Apparently, he'd stepped on it too harshly.

And finally, an elderly man living in Osaka, Ishido Tamachi, had

an odd feeling that something strange had just happened, and he missed it.

Feeling no regrets, he spent the rest of the day with his family.

It appeared to be a vast junkyard of some sort. Concrete bits,

chunks of buildings, ruined cars, and all sorts of rubble were strewn for

as far as the eye could see, which wasn't that far since it also seemed

that they were in a rather large pit of sorts. Not exactly a pit, more

like a low area in the land.

"Tetsuuuuooooooooo..."

Four figures sat on the hood of a relatively undamaged car (it was

still in one piece, much better than most of the other cars in the area)

and took this moment to rest.

Childra, sitting on the trunk of the car, snuggled next to Ishido,

who was putting an ice-pack-ish object on his head. "Feeling any better,

darling?" She wondered.

Ishido mumbled briefly. His knuckles felt like they were scraped

over sandpaper, he had a nagging bruise on one side, and his headache was

throbbing.

"Kaneeeeeeedaaaaaaaaa..."

Ishido blinked. He thought he heard something.

A few feet away, sitting on the roof of the car, 'Gosling' was

lying down with a ice-pack-like thing on his head as well. "T-thanks for

the medical s-supplies, Childra-san."

"Be prepared, that's my motto," she mumbled. With a frown, she

yanked on a rope. A few feet away, Ratiko clutched at his throat and

stumbled back a few feet. "Don't get lost NOW, Rat. That's the LAST

thing I need."

A blue light shot from the heavens into the ground, somewhere in

the background. Nobody noticed.

"Don't you think that's a bit extreme?" asked Ishido.

"You obviously aren't familiar enough with Hibikis," she replied,

giving the rope another tug.

Gosling watched with a hint of a smile on his lips. Internally,

he was tempted to ask her if he could give that rope a few good tugs too.

Hibiki on a leash, what WILL they think of next?

"Tetsuoooooooooooooo..."

Muhoshin blinked. He thought he heard something.

"Any idea where we are?" asked Ratiko.

"Looks like a gigantic scrap heap," observed Childra.

"Doesn't look familiar to me," said Ishido. Gosling nodded in

agreement.

"Say... you guys hear something?" wondered Muhoshin.

"Kaneeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeedaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa..."

"Hm?" mumbled Childra. The four of them looked around, trying to

focus with their ears.

"Tetsuoooooooooooooooooooooooooooo..."

"There it is again," said 'Gosling'.

"Yeah, I hear it too," said Ratiko.

"Shh!" hissed Childra.

-bzzzzt- *WHAM*

They turned around just in time to see a streaking light of blue,

followed by a cloud of dust rising in the distance.

"Uh oh," mumbled Muhoshin.

"Why do I have a bad feeling about this?" asked Ratiko.

"Not good," mumbled Childra, eyeing the skies warily.

"Hey, there's someone... some guy on a motorcycle, waaay over

there. You see him?" Ishido pointed to a faraway distance, where a red

motorcycle was zooming across the land.

Suddenly, a large bolt of blue descended, crashing into the earth.

The motorcycle sped away rapidly, and it's driver looked like it was

aiming a rather large gun.

"Goddammit, fight fair! Tetsuo you asshole!"

"Not good," said Ratiko.

"What? What was that?!" said Ishido.

"Orbital satellite," said Childra. "Not good."

"Um... the guy in the bike is headed this way," said Gosling

nervously. "And, ah, that really big beam is following him."

"Okay, NOT good at all, we're leaving." Childra pulled them close

together. A moment and a flash of light later, they were gone...

A small group of girls and a cat were strolling casually down a

Tokyo sidewalk. It was a fairly quiet day, and they hadn't had a chance

to be together to relax in a while. They talked (and argued )of school,

and of boys, and of miscellaneous other things that 14-year-old schoolgirls

usually reminisce (and bicker) about.

Suddenly, one of them stopped.

"Something wrong, Rei?"

"I sense something... evil," she said, "and it's nearby."

"You think we'd better... um... get into our work clothes?"

"I think so."

MEANWHILE, NEARBY...

"Where in the world are we now?" moaned Ratiko.

"Worlds," said Childra.

"What?"

"Worlds. Where in the worlds are we now, that's how to phrase

it," she said.

"Why?"

"We're dealing with multiple realities, Rat. Therefore..." she

noticed Ratiko's gaze glazing over into a sort of numb expression. "Oh,

never mind."

At the moment, though, it was pretty clear _where_ in general they

were. The large billboards in kanji were a pretty important clue. The

manhole cover nearby and the inscription on it pretty much solidified the

matter.

"Ratiko... you idiot. Have a look around," said Childra.

"Oh, aheheh... Tokyo. Sorry, it was a reflex question."

They were indeed in Tokyo. The only question left was WHICH Tokyo

they were in.

"So... which Tokyo are we in now," mumbled Ratiko.

"I don't know, Rat. Let's just wander around for a bit?"

suggested Childra. The others agreed, and they strolled down the walkways,

generally relaxed.

At this point, an interesting chain of events took place, and had

they the time to analyse it, everyone would have realised that there were

two definite sources to blame for it. One being Ratiko, the other being a

talking cat.

Ratiko was to blame, mostly for being an idiot with a bad memory

and a tendency to over-react.

The cat was to blame simply because cats don't talk. This one

shouldn't have, not in public anyways.

As the four reality wanderers turned around a corner, they nearly

ran into a group of five young girls in rather colourful sailor suits, and

a white cat. Both parties nearly collided violently with each other.

"Oh, 'scuse us," said Ratiko.

"Okay," said the cat.

Ratiko blinked.

This was that particular moment.

Following Hibiki Logic, this wasn't quite right.

1) Cats didn't talk

2) Therefore, that wasn't a cat

However, there was one recent exception to that rule.

1) He knew Shampoo

2) Shampoo turned into a cat

3) Shampoo talked

4) Therefore, cats do talk

That logic circuit led to the next great deduction:

1) The cat talked

2) Therefore, the cat is Shampoo

3) Thanks to Shampoo, he'd seen the inside of a POT!

4) Must kill Shampoo

"SHAMPOO!" growled Ratiko. Everyone else looked at him as if he

was an idiot. "Now you shall pay!" he bellowed, pointing angrily at the

cat. His ki-energy immediately began to skyrocket to dangerous levels,

forming a black aura around him, while his fellow travellers paled at the

thought of a Hibiki going nuclear.

The five girls, however, seemed reaffirmed in their belief that

this was the source of their trouble, and that the three accompanying him

must be henchmen of some sort.

Sailor Venus took the initiative, yelling "VENUS LOVE ME CHAIN!"

Naturally, this caught Childra's attention, particularly the bits about

'love' and 'chain'. Before she could make any more suggestions on the

matter, she and the other three were suddenly wrapped up in some sort of

mystical chains. Ratiko lost his concentration and his ki diffused. He

looked around, very confused at what was happening.

"You have threatened our friend, and for that, in the name of the Moon,

I will pu-"

"Sailor Moon..." The girl in the blue sailor fuku tapped the one

with meatballs on the shoulder.

"Hey! You're interrupting my speech!"

"They're... All tied up now."

"Oh."

The five Sailor Suit-clad girls blinked, cocked their heads every

now and then, and looked at their captives, unsure of what to make of them.

"Alright!" yelled Moon, "Who are you and what's your business here?"

Rei rolled her eyes.

"Sailor Moon, I think they're PROBABLY from the Dark Kingdom."

"Couldn't be," answered Usagi.

"Why not?"

"They're not good-looking enough. I mean, look at the scrawny one

over there!" she pointed at 'Gosling'. If he IS from the Dark Kingdom,

he'd have to be 'Concrete-that-got-left-out-in-the-rain-before-it-was-

ready-ite..."

"Point taken," agreed Rei. "But, if they're not from the Negaverse,"

she narrowed her eyes and looked at them. "Who are they?"

"Ah... tourists?" meekly offered Muhoshin. He didn't like this

situation at all, captured by, of all things, pre-pubescent magical girls.

He also didn't like the way a certain raven-haired one was glaring at him.

The girls took a moment to confer with themselves, as it seemed

that their captives were going nowhere. That, and this just didn't seem

to be the way things worked out normally. There was clearly something not

quite right about this.

"So, the guy in the bandanna is the bad guy, right Rei?"

"Actually... the one I'm sensing is that one."

"Which one?"

Rei pointed.

"What, the skinny one?"

"He looks like he's scared to hell!"

"You must be making a mistake."

"That's what I'm thinking myself..."

"Okay, one of us oughta talk to one of them. After all, they were

about to blast Artemis."

"Good point."

Meanwhile, the four wanderers were in different states of mind.

Ishido's programming was flickering at the edge of his mind, threatening

to take over if things got worse. Ratiko was staring at legs, five pairs

of them, and how they utterly failed to be covered by the very short

skirts worn by the girls. Childra was looking at the same thing, and the

chains were only helping to... heat up... her mood.

"Um, excuse me?" asked Childra, hoping to get the matter

straightened out soon.

"That girl's calling us."

"Um, which one of us should go?"

"Jeez, why are you guys so timid about this? I'll go!" roared a

particularly tall one with brown hair. She strode up confidently to

Childra. "So, who are you people?" she asked.

"Jansen, Childra Jansen. Nice to meet you, Miss...?"

"You can call me Sailor Jupiter."

"Sailor Jupiter, hm?" Childra's smile became a little more wide

as she moved a little suggestively against the chains and gave Sailor

Jupiter a look-over. She leaned forwards and whispered, "You know, you

remind me of my old girlfriend."

Sailor Jupiter stepped back, aghast. The other sailor scouts

started talking amongst themselves while Sailor Jupiter struggled to get

back in stride and on top of the situation. "Hey! I, er, I'm n-not like,

uh, I don't..."

Childra leaned forward again and whispered, "Bring your friend

with the chains and we can have some fun." -wink- The chains were

turning her on to an amazing degree. She hadn't felt this way in a while.

Jupiter blushed further and backed away, her face in a somewhat

mortified expression. Meanwhile, the sailor scouts were having a quick

conference on the inaccuracy of Sailor Mars's ability to sense evil.

"But I'm telling you it's the skinny one!"

"No way, absolutely no way."

At this point, Muhoshin was hearing snippets of the debate, and

decided that it was time to leave before things got ugly. Fortunately, he

knew just who to talk to about it...

"Um, Miss Jansen?" he said nervously. "I, ah, really think we

should leave now."

"Leave? But I haven't had my fun yet?"

"But... but... I wanna leave!"

"I don't like being chained like this either," muttered Ishido.

Ratiko's mind nearly blank, except for those legs... thus the

prevailing attitude of the four persons nearest to the locket was one for

staying, two for leaving, and one just thinking of hentai things along the

lines of legs.

And with a sudden burst of azure flame, they were gone.

Once again, there were four figures sitting under the shade of a

tree, on a small tropical deserted island. They were looking very much

more tired and weary than before. Nearby, the remains of a fairly large

boat were scattered on the beach. On it's side, the letters 'innow' were

barely visible.

Muhoshin stared at Ratiko, somewhat surprised. He'd never seen

anyone with a ki-blast like _that_. This might be a problem.

"*cough* Well, Ratiko, nice work on the *cough* boat," said

Childra.

"Just had to *cough* work out some frustration."

The four of them wheezed and coughed in near-silence for a while...

"How many *cough* times have we 'travelled'?" asked Ratiko.

"Lost count," wearily said Ishido.

"That last one," wheezed Ratiko, "was too much."

"My lungs still hurt," said Ishido, "what was that place? The air

*cough* over there was terrible."

"And police in tanks too," said Ishido, "looked like somebody

took over Japan and declared martial law."

"Quit complaining, you two," said Childra, also tired.

"Almost as bad as that other place... what did the locals call it?"

asked Ratiko.

"Megatokyo," said Ishido.

"Yeah, that."

There was a lull in conversation.

"Wonder what was with that other place," said Ratiko.

"What other place?" asked Childra.

"Well, in the middle of the city there was this space ship stuck

on top of a skyscraper."

Childra shrugged. "Who knows?"

They spent a few more moments relaxing in the shade.

"It'll be a cold day in hell," said Childra slowly, "before I ever

go near that place with those tentacles again."

The three others nodded solemnly. It wasn't a pretty sight, that

place.

"Okay, look," said Childra, "the problem here is that we've been

kinda distracted. This time, clear your minds, okay?"

Ishido and Ratiko mumbled in agreement. Muhoshin raised an

eyebrow. With that statement, Childra clearly implied that she knew what

was going on. Apparently, the other two were too tired to notice. He

deeply suspected Childra of either (a) having the power to time/reality

skip or (b) in possession of a device that could do so. The possibilities

of what one could do with such a device...

Amazingly, the other two didn't pick up on this. Muhoshin

noticed that too, and immediately assumed that they might be somewhat

dull-witted.

"Okay, everybody, clear your minds, okay? Don't think of

anything."

The boys fell silent as Childra reached into her pocket and

concentrated.

[Something important in her pocket?] thought Muhoshin.

A second later, they flickered out of existence.

Keep in mind, they're travelling with a Hibiki. and that often

produces mixed results. Many times, a Hibiki won't get -anywhere- near

where they wanted to go. But sometimes, just every now and then, a Hibiki

manages to get lucky.

The world resolved around the four slowly, into something

recognisable...

They were on a street, a fairly normal looking street, in a fairly

peaceful looking neighbourhood.

"I think... this might be it," said Ishido.

Ratiko looked around. "Looks kinda like it."

Muhoshin remained silent. There wasn't anything he wanted to say,

really.

"Well," said Childra, "let's find the Tendou Douj-"

"CHILDRA!"

All four turned around.

As it turned out, the Tendou doujou was right behind them.

And so was an incredibly angry Ryo Saotome.

END ACT II

'GuyverRyouga' was from Mark Latus's fanfic _GuyverRyouga_

'Ministry of Confusion' by Stefan "Twoflower" Gagne

Used with permission from the authors.

Annotations for Act 2

"There is _ONE_ person I remember more clearly than others... Unfortunately, he's not the kind of person I _want_ to remember..." "The Way Things Are" is set in the same continuity as "The More Things Change", and takes place some time after that story. The person he refers to is "The More Things Change" character Ryo Muhoshin, by Rod M. - "On a long-spanning concrete bridge..." Aside from the way this scene ends, it is a direct cut from part 11 of "The More Things Change". - "Ryo looked, and there was Bell-chan in all her beauty..." Belldandy Tendo is from Ross McKenzie's "Descents and Inversions". - "A rather pale girl emerged from the corner..." Skeride Gosunkugi is from Chris Willmore's "Ranma 2096" - " "You're not a part of the Collective, are you?" asked Skeride... " The Gosunkugi Collective is first seen in the Ranma 2096 story "GOSUNKUGI: Generations" by Rod M. - "Ryouga walked the streets with Nabiki, holding her hand..." This scene is a crossover into "GuyverRyouga" by Mark Latus. - "Hey skipper! Look! Footprints!" This scene is a crossover into "Gilligan's Island". Yes, "Gilligan's Island". - "This was Tokyo..." This scene is a crossover into "Ministry of Confusion" by Stefan "Twoflower" Gagne. - "Dear old Jack the lad is back..." Refers to the infamous serial killer Jack the Ripper. - "[The lain in Spain faus mainly in the prain] practiced Muhoshin..." A tip of the hat to the play/movie/musical "My Fair Lady" - "a civilian in a brown long jacket, hat, and tobacco pipe, and a more elderly gentleman in grey clothes..." Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. - "MEGATOKYO, AQUA CITY. 7:56pm..." This scene crosses over into Bubblegum Crisis, by Toshimichi Suzuki. - "It appeared to be a vast junkyard of some sort..." This scene crosses over into "Akira" by Katsuhiro Otomo. The main characters, Kaneda and Tetsuo, spend a lot of the final scenes yelling each other's names angrily. - "A small group of girls and a cat were strolling casually..." This scene crosses over into Sailor Moon, created by Takeuchi Naoko. - "Nearby, the remains of a fairly large boat were scattered on the beach..." Once again, "Gilligan's Island". Ratiko has taken his stress out on the poor remains of the S.S. Minnow. - ""And police in tanks too," said Ishido..."" Referring to "Dominion Tank Police" by Masamune Shirow. - "Well, in the middle of the city there was this space ship stuck on top of a skyscraper." Referring to the series "Project A-Ko" by Soeishinsha/Final-Nishijima - "It'll be a cold day in hell," said Childra slowly, "before I ever go near that place with those tentacles again." Referring to the many wonderful anime of the 'hentai tentacle' variety, such as Uroskudoji &amp; La Blue Girl.


	3. Chapter 3

Act 3

The story so far...

ACT I:

In an alternate reality where Ranma married Shampoo, their daughter had

somehow obtained a magic locket that allowed her to cross dimensions. A

few accidents later, several of Ranma's 'children' from various realities

ended up in one reality, where Ranma was still a teen-age youth. One

amongst them, Ryo Saotome (son of Ranma and Ukyou) managed to get a hold

of the locket before Cologne was about to do something devious with it.

After his victory, he sent all the displaced sons and daughters of Ranma &amp;

company to their proper realities, and then prepared to go home himself.

Something, however, went wrong. He ended up in a bizarre version of

Tokyo in 2096 and accidentally dragged along Ratiko Hibiki and Childra

Jansen in his attempt to fix this mistake. That attempt dragged him to

two other realities with amazing speed. From them, he accidentally

brought Miyabi, daughter of Ranma and Akane, and Ishido, a mysterious

amnesiac hunted by a shadowy organisation.

Finally, they stopped in a reality where Ranma &amp; co. were still teens,

but had never met them before. And now...

ACT II:

Childra, curious as to what caused their dimensional/reality shift,

watched Ryo Saotome closely, and discovered that the locket is the source

of their troubles. She tried, and succeeded, in stealing the locket from

him without him noticing.

Ratiko schemed to make sure that the history of his world takes place,

and begins a scheme to kill Ranma and frame Miyabi for the murder. He

succeeded in getting a blood sample from her, and a torn piece of her

clothing, but is interrupted before he can go through with his plan. In a

talk with Ishido, he finds out about a certain umbrella-weilding maniac

threatening to kill Ryouga in Ishido's reality. In a panic, Ratiko rushed

to Childra, and accidentally triggered the locket.

The three of them found themselves on a bridge somewhere. Before they

left, they accidentaly dragged along Ryo Muhoshin, a person that looked

amazingly like Hikaru Gosunkugi, but in truth was a bit more devious.

Bringing him along, the four crossed several realities, narrowly escaping

danger, capture, and death.

And then they returned to the Nerima they left from, with an irate Ryo

Saotome waiting for them.

Meanwhile, Miyabi has put up with the antics of her grandparents (Soun

and Genma) who were overjoyed at her existence, distressed at the way her

parents were fighting, greatly annoyed at her trans-dimensonal half

brother Ryo Saotome, and decided that a talk with Grandmother Nodoka was

in order.

And now...

ACT THREE

by

Kevin Eav, Ross McKenzie, RpM,

Caroline Seawright, and Christopher Willmore

[with a scene by Nicola Wright]

Editor-in-Chief: Elizabeth Christian

Miyabi wandered through the streets of Nerima. She'd found out from

Kasumi where Nodoka lived, as it was obvious that she wasn't at the Tendou

house. Her mum had chatted to her for a while. Akane was, of course,

very curious about her future, although she tried to hide it. It was

really strange to see her mother so young... So much more like a... a

friend than a mother. She was so insecure about Ranma, even though it was

obvious that he loved her.

She leapt onto the roof of a nearby house, then started to jump from

roof-top to roof-top towards the Saotome house.

Dad was probably even worse than mum, thought Miyabi, but his problem

was that he hid behind insults. Miyabi was used to their fighting, but

here... It was almost too much. At least Ranma had learned to control his

mouth somewhat, in her future.

Miyabi stopped and looked down. She stood before the old Saotome

house. In Miyabi's time, it had been destroyed by Shampoo and Ukyou

somehow. She wasn't too sure about the details, but it was something to do

with being jealous over her mum and dad. She jumped to the road, and

entered the front gate.

"Grandma! Baachan! It's Miyabi here!" Miyabi called, before

remembering that Nodoka wouldn't know who she was.

A pretty, older woman with long, dark hair, braided and pulled into a

bun, opened the door. She was clad in a colourful kimono. The only real

difference that Miyabi noticed was that her grandmother didn't carry a

long... object wrapped in cloth. Miyabi knew what it was. It was the

family sword... But why was her grandmother carrying it around? She'd

heard a little, but never the full story behind why Nodoka had the weapon.

Nodoka smiled kindly at Miyabi, "Yes? What would you like, dear?"

Miyabi couldn't help but jump into her arms and hug her, "I've missed

you so, Baachan!"

Nodoka's surprise knew no bounds. "I'm your... grandmother?"

Miyabi nodded, still hugging her, "Yes! Kasumi-obachan told me where

you were so I had to come and see you!"

Nodoka blinked, holding Miyabi, the information sinking into her head.

"Well, I think you'd better come in and we'll have a little chat..."

A badly-beaten Ranma stumbled into the living room. Akane stared at

him, then rushed to his side, "Ranma! Are you okay?!"

Ranma nodded as much as he could, using a stick to help him walk,

"I'll live... but Ryouga'll pay for this!"

Akane frowned, "Ryouga-kun did this to you by himself?"

"He and Ucchan did it..."

Akane blinked, "Ukyou?"

Ranma growled, "They found out about all these future children,

and..."

"Oh, they found out about Miyabi? Where is she, anyway?"

"She went off to speak to her grandmother or something..."

This took a moment or two to sink in.

Ranma and Akane stared at each other, "Grandmother? That's..."

They both jumped up, running out of the house at full speed.

Nodoka and Miyabi knelt at the low table, a tray of tea between them.

Miyabi sipped at her cup as her grandmother talked.

"So, Miyabi... if you're my grand-daughter... then Ranma is your

father!"

Miyabi nodded as she sipped, "Yeah, and Akane is my mother."

Nodoka's face turned into a frown, "My son... and his fiancee... have

a child?" Her face darkened considerably, and the family sword appeared in

her hand.

Miyabi, never having seen this look from her grandmother, backed away

from the table a little, "Anou... I don't mean ... right now... etou..."

Nodoka suddenly burst into tears, "And they didn't tell me about it!"

Miyabi almost face-faulted.

Childra gave a nervous half-smile and waved to Ryo, "Err, hiya."

Ryo glared, moving towards her menacingly.

Nodoka held Miyabi tightly to her, "My son is a manly man! Having a

daughter so early in life with his fiancee! Oh, he makes me so proud!"

Miyabi, a little confused, looked up at Nodoka, "A manly man... but

dad never found a cure..."

Nodoka let her go, "A cure? To what?"

"Well, he's never gotten a cure to -"

Miyabi never got to finish the sentence as Akane and a female Ranma

burst in through the door. Ranma grabbed her, then dragged her out of the

house while Akane smiled nervously at Nodoka.

Nodoka looked bewildered as the whirlwind that was Ranko snatched her

son's child away. She looked up at Akane, "Where's Ranko taking Miyabi-

chan? And what cure does my son need? He's sick?"

Akane's nervous smile grew larger as a sweat drop formed on her

forehead. "Cure? R-Ranma? He's just got a... a... cold. Yeah, that's it.

And Ranko needs to talk to Miyabi about it! That's right..."

"A cold? My poor son... I should go to him. Is he home yet, Akane,

dear?"

Akane shook her head, "N..no, he's on another training trip with

ojisan."

"Oh..." Nodoka sighed, "Well, Akane-chan. Why don't you sit down and

have a little talk with me?"

Ranma stood, still holding Miyabi's hand, and panted. They stood

halfway down the road from the Saotome house.

Miyabi grabbed her hand back from Ranma, "Hey, what's with you, dad?!"

"Ofukuro doesn't know about my curse!"

Miyabi feh!ed, "Well, tell her, dad!"

Ranma sighed, "I can't. If I tell her, she'll kill me!"

"Nani?!"

Ranma started to explain to Miyabi about the promise that Genma had

given to his wife about raising a manly man...

Nodoka smiled at Akane, "So, you and my son have had a child. You

should have told me, Akane-chan. I would have helped you raise her!"

Akane froze, "D... daughter..."

Nodoka nodded, "Miyabi told me all about you and my son. It's so

*good* to know that he's such a man. He's no hentai, running around in

girls' clothes and doing strange, hentai things! And I have a grandchild!"

She smiled up at Akane, "You should have told me earlier that you and my

son were parents! Oh, I'm so happy!"

Akane just stared at her. She wanted to jump up and yell that there

was no way she would have a child with Ranma, but she wasn't so sure after

meeting Miyabi. Nor could she tell Nodoka that it was all a

misunderstanding. This was proof that Ranma was a man. Nodoka was so

happy.

"Oh, I have to meet my son and congratulate him!"

"...as soon as he gets back from the trip," Akane finished.

Nodoka deflated a little.

"Yes, as soon as he gets back."

Miyabi stared at Ranma, "She'll make you commit seppuku if she finds

out that you turn into a girl?"

Ranma nodded miserably.

Miyabi frowned and looked at the floor, "Well, at least I know why

she's got the katana."

They stood in silence for a few moments.

"Oh, dad! Grandma said that you were a manly man when I told her that

you were my dad! Maybe she won't kill you since you're proved how much of

a man you really are!"

Ranma blinked and stared at her like she was insane, "But I...

Akane... we haven't! I... I wouldn't!"

"Not *yet* you wouldn't, but grandma doesn't know that! If we keep

pretending that this is true, then it's no problem!"

Ranma thought about this for a while. "Hey, it could work!"

Miyabi nodded, "We can go back and test how this'll go down right now.

Maybe then you can meet her as a guy..."

Ranma smiled at the thought of meeting his mother, properly, for the

first time.

Akane looked at Nodoka, not knowing what to do. Then the door opened,

and she stared as Miyabi and the female Ranma entered the room.

"Hi, Auntie!" Ranma called cheerfully, "Ranma's daughter and I have

come to visit you!"

Akane blinked and looked closely at the two. They must have a plan.

Nodoka smiled, "Oh, hello Ranko. Hello again, grand-daughter."

"Hi, baachan!" Miyabi smiled happily.

Ranma scratched the back of her head, "Auntie... Now you know that

your son has a child. Do you think you'll let Uncle Genma and your son

out of that silly seppuku promise? After all, only a *real* man could

ever have a child with such a macho chick like Akane!"

Akane punched Ranma in the face, "Baka."

Ranma glared at Akane, rubbing her face.

Nodoka smiled, seeming not to notice the exchange. "My son is such a

man! He's given an heir to the Saotome school. Of course I won't hold that

promise over him any more. He's proven himself to me. If only... if only I

could have met him before finding out about Miyabi. Oh, my poor son. All

this training... Akane-chan, you should have let me help you with your

daughter while Ranma was away so much. But you have done a wonderful job

in raising her."

Akane blushed deeply while Ranma stared at her mother, filled with

joy. She would finally meet her mother... as a him.

Ranko jumped up, "Ranma will see you tomorrow, auntie. I promise you!

But now we all should get going home. I'll tell Ranma, and send him here

tomorrow, at dinner time!"

With that, onna Ranma almost skipped out of the door, back towards

Nerima. Miyabi and Akane stood up, too, saying their farewells before

following Ranma home. Miyabi explained the plan as they caught up with

Ranma...

Ratiko stared as he ran around an unfamiliar area of town. Since when

did people start living in tents in Nerima? Come to that, since when was

there a desert in Nerima?! Ratiko sighed, and kept on running. He HAD to

go and hide the evidence before anyone found it.

Kasumi, watering the garden, came across a discarded machete and a

cloth with a little bottle of something red that may have been blood. She

picked up the items and headed into the house, humming as she placed them

on the low living-room table. Then she went outside, continuing her

watering.

Ranma's mood suddenly dropped. She skidded to a halt, and Akane and

Miyabi almost ran into her. There, in their path, was Tatewaki Kunou,

holding a single, perfect red rose.

"Ah! My osage no onna! My Akane Tendou! And yet another beauty. Such a

blessed day as this should never end." He bowed to the three girls.

Ranma and Akane looked at him with disgust. Miyabi blinked, "Mum,

since when did Uncle Tacchi have a thing for you?"

Akane blinked at her, "You mean he isn't like this in the future?"

"Oh, Uncle Tacchi's always rather dense, but he's happily married

with Auntie Nabiki. Although he does have a tendency to chase dad around,

calling her 'osage no onna' and things."

Ranma looked even more repulsed, "He ALWAYS is like this?" Then he

did a double-take, "He married Nabiki?"

Miyabi nodded to both questions.

Meanwhile Kunou advanced on them, his arms opened wide, "Come to my

arms, my beloveds!"

Ranma and Akane, both too engrossed in their conversation, were saved

from the dreaded embrace by a beautiful, leotard-clad woman as she leapt

onto his head, knocking him to the road.

"Well, well. If it isn't the two lowly girls after my beloved

Ranma-sama's heart! Where have you hidden my Ranma-sama, today, nasty

girl?"

Miyabi blinked, "Aunt Kodachi loved you, too, dad? Oh, boy... were

you ever popular."

Akane glared at Kodachi while the female Ranma tried to hide, it

seemed.

"I guess she hasn't met Uncle Mikado, yet, then."

Ranma and Akane stared, "MIKADO?!"

Kodachi cocked her head, "He's off to see that skater, is he? Well, I

must go and find my beloved, then! OhohohOHohohOHOHOHOhoHOhohoohOhohOHoh!"

With that, she leapt away, bouncing over nearby buildings to find her way

to Kohlkoz High. Black rose-petals floated on the breeze as she

disappeared into the distance.

Akane roused herself, "Come on, let's go before sempai finds out about

all of this. He'll kill you if he hears about 'our' daughter, Ranma."

The three girls continued their jog home.

Kunou sat up, in the middle of the road. "That cur has a daughter?!

Ranma Saotome! You will pay for impregnating my darling Akane! How DARE

you pick such a rare flower at its first bloom! And another daughter

from my darling osage no onna! For your crimes against my beloved women,

I must kill you! RANMA SAOTOME! TATEWAKI KUNOU WILL PUNISH YOU!"

Then he fainted.

Ryo was angry. No, scratch that. He wasn't just angry; he was

full-blown, killing-mood, red-flames rising behind him, Ryouga-couldn't-

do-much-better-than-this angry. He stared at Childra, eyes full of a

promise for a horrible fate should they have done anything to interfere

with Bell-chan. He advanced, slowly, and almost supernaturally calmly,

pacing towards Childra as though stalking prey.

"What...did...you...do...with...the...locket...?"

Childra glanced around nervously. [Damn, that Gosling's too wimpy to

be of any use, even if he is trained in the use of the umbrella, and

Lobishomen's still out. God knows where Ratiko got to. Probably trying

to find the bathroom, knowing that boy. Chikusho; I've gotta deal with this

myself. _And_ keep the others from knowing about the locket.] She flashed

Ryo a winning smile, if a strained one.

"Maybe we should talk about this somewhere else?"

Ryo stared at her.

"Why? Scared that your 'lobishomem' is going to find out that you're

a thief?" Ryo knew that it was a low blow, but he was too angry to care.

He'd apologise later - there were other things to take care of first.

Childra flinched involuntarily; somehow, unconsciously, Ryo had hit

a sore spot. She wasn't used to being turned down as regularly as Ishido

turned her down, and she sure as *hell* wasn't used to actually giving it

a moment's notice and thought. She pushed it aside, to better concentrate

on the business at hand.

"No, you baka, no one else knows about the locket! Do you want them

finding out? They'll think that you're responsible for them getting

ripped out of their timelines, you know. So, unless you want everyone to

find out, let's find a better place to... discuss... this!" Childra

whispered, as Muhoshin was still awake, though looking extremely scared

and confused. She looked at him and said, "Hey, take care of Ishido over

there, would ya?" 'Gosling' nodded slowly in agreement, and Ryo nodded and

led her off to a room that was unused at the moment.

'Gosling' grinned as soon as they left the room.

"Tsk... that girl's whisper could be heard halfway across Nerima. She

might as well have just shouted it out loud." He crept out of the room

after a suitable delay, to make sure they wouldn't see him. He turned to

consider Ishido, but decided that listening in on the argument was more

important at the moment. He came upon the room, not that it was hard to

find with the shouting going on.

"What the hell did you think you were doing, jumping times like

that?"

Muhoshin smiled. [Hrm. Ryo. Nice name.]

"Look, Ryo, all I wanted to do was look at the locket."

Muhoshin mentally pulled out a notepad. [Ok... find out what this

one knows, make sure he won't interfere. Find Ryouga, KILL him, get home.

Challenging, yet entertaining.]

"You *idiot*! That's more than just some locket! Don't you know

what you were doing with that thing?"

[No... but I'm sure you'll say something informative soon, 'Ryo'.]

"No, not really... but we're here, no one's missing, so everything's

ok, isn't it?"

"Aggghhh! Look, just give me the locket back, ok? I *don't* want

reality twisted and changed any more than it already has."

Muhoshin blinked, and small, twisted smile slithered onto his

face.

He heard the two dimension-hoppers start for the door, and he

hurried back to the bedroom Ishido was in, plotting all the way.

Ryo decided to take a walk, clear his head. Childra, naturally,

wanted to check in on Ishido. She knocked on the door, then stuck her

head in. Gosling was there; or was it? For a second, she thought that

it was someone else, but that was unmistakeably Gosling's voice and

mannerisms. With a mental shrug, she walked in.

"How's he doing, Gosling?"

She didn't notice the small twitch that he made when she called him by

name.

Muhoshin composed himself.

"Yeah..." he said, "he looks like he'll be out for a while. You

should get some rest." [Gosling? GOSLING? She dies. Soon. After this

'Ishido'.]

Childra nodded and went in search of a place to nap. Muhoshin

grinned evilly and retrieved his umbrella from where he had tossed it.

"Ishido, Ishido, Ishido," he said quietly, "what am I to do with

you?" What to do indeed, as Ishido somehow KNEW who he was, and watched

over Muhoshin far too close for his comfort. Eliminating him from the

equation was certainly tempting, but that also opened up a whole new can

of worms. Who would they suspect of killing Ishido, but him? He was the

obvious suspect.

Damn this Ishido. If it weren't for him...

In his foul mood, Muhoshin leveled the blade along Ishido's throat,

his agitation at the situation growing. He briefly wondered if it was

possible to just beat the hell out of everyone and get what he wanted that

way. It worked every now and then in his past, so...

Then Kasumi walked in. Ryo mentally *ack*ed, and lowered his weapon.

Kasumi, of course, was oblivious to what was just about to happen.

"Why, hello there! You must be a new arrival. I'm Kasumi Tendou.

Are you here with Ryo, Childra, Ishido, Ratiko, and Miyabi?"

Ryo shook mentally. Somehow, the sight of her triggered something in

his mind, and he found himself unable to commit violence.

"Umm... yes, yes I am. It's nice to meet you, Kasumi."

Kasumi smiled.

"And it's nice to meet you... I didn't catch your name, however."

Muhoshin gulped. "I..um...[don't lose it, focus, remember the story.]

I'm Ryo Gosunkugi." He flinched on the last word.

Kasumi, naturally, took no notice.

"That's nice. The others are having some lunch, if you want to join

them."

Muhoshin gulped again.

"Th-thank you."

He left, to try and compose himself. [Gah... what's wrong with me?]

He walked into the dining room. Ryo looked at Gosling from his place at

the table, having returned from his walk hungry. Miyabi was there, too,

as were Ranma and Akane, having arrived from Nodoka's, and as usual, they

were all eating. Ranma, Miyabi, and Akane stopped and stared at Muhoshin

as he entered the room. They echoed, "Who are *you*?!" and he jumped.

"I'm..uh... I'm... Ryo Gosunkugi.."

Ranma and Akane choked.

"NANI?!"

Muhoshin looked as flustered as he could get.

"I'm Ryo Gosunkugi, son of Hikaru Gosunkugi and Ukyou Kuonji. Why?"

Ranma gagged, and looked to be having trouble breathing, and Akane was

absolutely stunned. The two inaazuke looked at each other.

"Gosunkugi and *Ukyou*?!" Unfortunately for Ranma, at this point,

Ukyou had just returned to the doujou to apologise to Ranma. She heard

shouting, and snuck up just in time to hear "Gosunkugi and *Ukyou*?!"

followed by Ranma saying "Well... it's kinda weird, but I guess I can see

it." Ukyou marched into the room. She was looking very dangerous.

"You can see *what*, Ran-chan?"

Ranma suddenly looked *very* worried.

"Ah..umm... Ucchan! Hi!" His voice trailed off weakly.

*SLAM*

"That's for what I just heard, Ran-chan." Ukyou walked off,

even more disturbed. [Gosunkugi? No way...]

Muhoshin bubbled inside at seeing Saotome get slammed like that. He

briefly considered going and flustering the Kuonji girl some more, but

instead sat down with the Saotomes and spun his tale, at their behest.

"Well... it all started with this guy... I believe his name was...

Muhoshin. Anyway... from what mom tells me, he was a good fighter, and

had a beef with... Ryouga? [Don't give them the whole story] Anyway,

apparently, Ukyou had feelings for Ryouga, but this Muhoshin guy killed

Ryouga. Damn near sent mom over the edge. Anyway, apparently, you

*points at Ranma* and mom and Akane went out and 'venged yourself on the

guy, and Dad was there the whole time, comforting Ukyou-and the

inevitable happened."

Silence was the order of the day around the Tendou household. Ranma

started muttering.

"I don't believe this... this kind of stuff happens in *stories*, not

real life!"

Muhoshin inwardly clicked his heels in joy.

[Ah, chaos. I love chaos.]

Back in the other room, Kasumi was carefully tending to Ishido's

wounds. She laid a cool cloth on his head, not really expecting him to

wake up anytime soon. But wake he did, and he groaned. "Anou... what

happened?"

Kasumi blinked. "I don't know. I think Childra, Ratiko, and you

took a little trip, and found Ryo Gosunkugi."

Muhoshin blinked as he passed by the door. [Hmm... maybe I'll get to

find out what he knows after all.]

Inside the room, Ishido shook his head. "No, he's not. His name's

Ryo Muhoshin, and he's a *very* *bad* person."

At this point, Childra woke up, and walked from her bed past

'Gosling' into the room, not really noticing him, in time to hear the

conversation.

"That's not a nice thing to say, cutie."

"But it's *true* I tell you. I've met him before. He's really

scary, and he's maybe as good a martial artist as Ranma. He had these

attacks - punching people with glowing gloves, poking them with a

needle-umbrella and making their bones explode... He nearly killed me!"

Childra frowned.

"Ishi-kun, didn't you say that you're memory was swiss-cheesed?"

Ishido nodded slowly. "Then your unconscious is probably making something

up to deal with him."

Ishido shook his head.

"No...I.. oh god, I can't remember! I... maybe you're right."

Ryo wiped his forehead. It'd been a close one there, all right. He

walked off... he had some new theories to try out, thanks to that Ishido.

It's too bad he'd probbably have to kill him. Ishido just might

know too much.

[Well, time to find the local store.]

Ukyou stomped through the doujou, her face flushed. [I can't believe

Ranchan said that about me. Gosunkugi? Ewww! He's so... slimy.]

"Mom, wait," Ryo called after her.

The okonomiyaki chef turned to face her son. Now this was a future

she could believe in; Ryo was a strong, handsome boy, polite and

intelligent, not like that weak, sickly "Gosling" character. "Yes,

Ryo-chan?"

The pig-tailed boy winced. "You haven't called me that in years,

Mom."

Ukyou smiled. "Indulge me. It's not everyday that your son visits

from the future."

"That's what I wanted to talk to you about, Mom." Ryo stuffed

his hands in his pockets. "You see... no, let's go outside first."

"If you want to."

"There's not enough privacy here," Ryo explained, "especially not

with all the other time-trippers wandering about." He paused to collect

his thoughts. "And I've never felt at ease here. Sure, this was

Godai-kun's house, but visiting always made Pop feel uncomfortable. He

lost the place, and it took a lot of work on Nabiki's part to get it

back."

"Who's Godai? Is there another time-traveller here I don't know

about?"

"He's the son of Akane and Ryouga."

"The WHAT? Are there no bigamy laws in the future?"

Ryo grabbed Ukyou's hands before they could do anything more violent

than make fists. "That's not it at all, Mom." He tried to pitch his

voice in a calming manner, but he was no Bell-chan. Ukyou pulled away;

the pig-tailed boy let her go rather than get in a wrestling match with

his own mother. "We're all from different timelines, different possible

futures. Some of them are mutually exclusive."

The okonomiyaki chef frowned, a wrinkle appearing above the

bridge of her nose.

"So, do I marry Ranchan or not?" she demanded.

"That's up to you," Ryo explained. "I don't mean to go all

metaphysical on you, Mom, but that's the only explanation I can come up

with. If you want something, then you have to make it happen. I think

the multiverse is big enough for all of us to get along."

"Is that what you wanted to talk to me about?"

The pig-tailed boy nodded. "And now I'd better go talk to the new

time-traveller. I need to know where he's from if I'm going to take him

back where he belongs." Ryo scowled, staring down at the gravel path.

"And it's not like that's going to be easy. I think I know where Miyabi

comes from, and Rat and Childra, but Ishido doesn't even have a clue about

what universe he's native to."

Ukyou put a hand on her son's shoulder. "Do you have to go?"

"Oh, yes I do." He snorted. "Travelling between worlds like this

is no picnic. And my fiancee is waiting."

"Fiancee?" Ukyou arched one eyebrow. "You only have one, right?"

Ryo gave a half-hearted chuckle despite himself. "The last world

I was in you said the exact same thing." He shook his head. "I guess

some things don't change, no matter where or when you are. Yes, I have

only one fiancee; you made sure I didn't pick up many of Pop's bad habits,

and yes, you approve of her. Bell-chan is the daughter of Kasumi and Ono

Tofu. She is just as kind and caring as you would expect."

"Do you love her?" There was a wistful note in Ukyou's voice.

"More than anything." He looked towards the house; lights were just

starting to come on, warding away the darkness. "Now I really need to

talk to that guy who claims to be my transdimensional half-brother."

"You don't believe him?"

"Do you? No, that's not fair. I think I'm just being jealous."

The pig-tailed boy shrugged. "We'll see. Good night, Mom."

"Good night, Ryo. And if this isn't the world you come from..."

Ryo turned back towards Ukyou. "Mom?"

"It was nice meeting you." Then she ran out of the garden and was

swallowed by the twilight.

Ryo was not happy to find out he'd missed Gosling's explanation of his

home-world. He was even less happy to find out that he'd missed the boy

altogether.

"What do you mean he left?" he asked Miyabi. "I was outside with my

Mom the whole time. Neither of us saw anything."

Miyabi took a step back.

"Don't yell at me! It's not my fault he's gone. And who knows, maybe

he's had ninja training."

Ryo stared at the ceiling. "I should have told all of you to

just stay put."

The waitress put her hands on her hips and stared at her

transdimensional half-brother.

"And who put you in charge? I've seen you get knocked out, you've

lost a locket your fiancee gave you, and you've felt up every woman in

Nerima. Those aren't impressive qualifications for leadership."

"Look, there's a reasonable explanation for everything, and I'm taking

charge because I'm the only one who knows what he's doing!"

"Oh, really?" Miyabi let her eyelids fall as she studied the

pig-tailed boy. "I think Childra knows just as much as you do, and she's

less of a pervert."

"She's also a... no, forget it. Just don't go anywhere, OK. And

don't let any of the others wander."

"It's dark outside. Where would I want to go anyway?"

"I was more worried about Ratiko. I'd rather he stayed on the same

continent as the rest of us."

"Then _you_ watch him. I'm not your slave, Ryo, and I'm not going to

obey your orders." She spun on her heels and marched out of the room,

effectively ending their argument.

[Good going, Ryo. A touch more empathy there and you'd have been as

tactful as Tachi Kunou. I thought you learned your lesson about trying

to be cold and manipulative a half dozen worlds ago. It just doesn't

work, not for you, anyway.]

Out loud he said, "And I used to wish I had a sister."

Ryo Muhoshin ran through a mental list of the items he wanted to buy.

This was not the sort of list you wrote down; people could steal hard

copy, but thoughts could never be used as evidence.

If what he'd heard was true, he had a lot of untapped potential; and

with worlds full of Ryougas to practice on, well...

A small dark shape bouncing down the street interrupted Muhoshin's

thoughts. [Him!] The boy smiled. If you didn't have a Ryouga to play

with, a Happousai was just as good...

Ryo Saotome ran through the lamp-lit streets of Nerima. [Damn! Where

could he have gone? At this rate I'll never find the guy._] He looked up

at the starlit sky. [At least it's not raining.]

The wind picked up, and the sky rumbled. "I should have known better

than that." He turned up the collar of his coat and hunched his shoulders

against the cold. Having no gloves, he shoved his hands in his pockets to

keep them warm. His fingers wrapped around the chain of the locket.

[I wonder... do I dare?]

He studied the locked in the pale glow cast from the display window of

a nearby appliance store. It didn't look any worse for wear from

Childra's handling of it, but then, considering how beat up the charm was,

that wasn't saying much. "I think I know how to use you. I know that if

I keep my mind focused I'll end up where I want to go. If I say, 'take me

to a world where I find Gosling quickly, and then take me back to this

world,' will you do it?"

A faint blue-white glow along the edges of the locket was his answer.

"I'm not sure I want to do this," he told the locket as he debated

with himself. "I don't like you, and I don't want to use you, but I want

to get home as soon as possible. If I could go home to Bell-chan right

now I'd do it in a shot, but I can't just leave the others here." He

closed his fist around the hunk of battered silver. "All right, let's

go."

Silver-blue light escaped from between Ryo's fingers, and the locket

grew so cold he felt like his hand was on fire.

It started to rain, but Muhoshin didn't mind. Umbrellas were for

more than just fighting, after all.

"Hey, old man," he cried. "Where do you think you're going?"

"Out of my way!" shouted Happousai. He bounced closer, and Ryo smiled

a predatory smile. The old man wouldn't know what hit him. It would be

almost too easy.

A pig-tailed form jumped out of the rain-shrouded night and

intercepted the ancient hentai, knocking Happousai into orbit and

scattering his ill-gotten unmentionables across the pavement. [Ranma?]

Muhoshin clenched his teeth. Saotome would pay for interrupting his

fight. Then the boy remembered his need for subterfuge, and clamped down

on his anger, burying it deep. [Later, Ranma. Later.]

"Are you all right?" Ryo Saotome asked. "Happousai is dangerous, in

his own petty way."

The darkness hid Muhoshin's surprise. [That's not Ranma. That's his

would-be son!] "I- I think I'm all right," he stammered, quickly hiding

behind a facade of meekness. "Th- thank you for saving me."

"What are brothers for?"

[Brother? Oh, yes, this one _is_ Ukyou's son.] "Wh- why did you come

after me?"

"It's not a good idea for us to be wandering around on our own. I told

the others to stay at the doujou, and then went looking for you."

[Alone? Your mistake.] "H- how did you find me?"

Ryo shrugged. "I have my ways," he said evasively.

[I'll just bet you do. I know you couldn't have followed me in this

rain, no, and I know you couldn't have caught up with me. What else does

that nice little trinket of yours do, hmm?] "I'm glad you're here," he

said truthfully.

"I'm glad I could help." Ryo ran his left hand through his rain-

soaked hair. "You wouldn't happen to have a spare umbrella, would you?"

"No, but I'll share. And, uh, could you lead us on the way back? I'm

a little lost."

Ryo turned around and pointed.

"We want to go south."

[You took the old man out in one shot, but just like everyone else in

this town, you're too nice for your own good.] Muhoshin closed his

umbrella and twirled it between his fingers. [Just the two of us, on a

dark street corner? This opportunity is too good to pass up. Goodbye,

'Brother. ']

Ryo half-turned, thinking something was wrong. It wasn't enough. The

handle of Muhoshin's umbrella caught him in the back of the head, and he

slumped to the sidewalk.

"What has it got in its pockets, Baggins?" Muhoshin hissed as he

searched for the locket. He had to pry the silver charm out of Ryo's

fingers; even unconscious, the pig-tailed boy would not let go.

The latch was broken, and the locket had sprung open. There was a

photograph inside; Muhoshin tore it free and held it up to his nose,

studying the picture as best he could in the low levels of ambient light.

"Hmm... Ranma and Kasumi? No, this is you and some other woman. A

girlfriend, perhaps?" He closed the locket with a snap and let the

picture fall to the ground like a dead autumn leaf. "If I see her, I'll

let her know you won't be coming back."

He held up the locket, examining it curiously. Such power in a little

thing like this? It was hard to believe.

Twirling his umbrella idly, he looked down at the prone form of Ryo

Saotome, sprawled on the ground. How to take care of him? Murder was the

obvious choice, but... no. He internally frowned at his hesitation, but

he hadn't murdered anyone yet, and was for some unexplainable reason,

hesitant to start now.

Cripple? Maim? Yes. But it'd be rather pointless to maim him.

Nothing gained, really.

Kill? No... not yet. But surely there were other ways to get rid of

him. At that moment, the locket chose to spark slightly, sputtering out

small dots of azure light. Ah, the locket. He could just use it to shunt

Saotome off to some odd hell dimension. Haha! Yes, send Saotome to some

odd remote reality. Muhoshin smiled, clutching the locket, and wondered

about sending him off to some hellish dimension.

"Now just _where_ should I send you?" he muttered, grinning wickedly.

[Hmm... where would _I_ be horrified to go?] he pondered. Then he thought

back to that place with a _crowd_ of Ryougas. "A world of Ryougas," he

said quietly, "no, that would be _my_ version of hell."

And then, without warning, the locket blazed with cerulean fire.

Nabiki walked into the doujou with a smile on her face. For once,

lunch at Ucchan's had proven... Lucrative. Visions of yen filled her mind

as she entered the living room, so that she almost missed the odd assembly

on the table.

Curious, she walked over to the pile and fingered the machete. Lifting

it revealed a (torn) piece of cloth, and a test tube of... [Blood?] Nabiki

frowned. [What on earth could anyone want with...] Then, she thought back

to her conversation with Kuonji. [Wait a sec...]

"Oneechan?"

"Yes, Nabiki?" called Kasumi from the kitchen.

"Who left this here?"

"Those things? I picked them up outside. I think Ratiko dropped them."

"Ratiko? HIBIKI Ratiko? The one who says he's Ukyou and Ryouga's kid?"

"Their great-grandson. Isn't it nice? With all these guests showing

up, I hope we have enough room to lodge them..."

"Uh... Yeah... Any idea where he is now?"

"Not really... His friend tells me he gets lost..."

"A true Hibiki, then." [Hmm... Ryouga's descendant, a vial of blood,

a sample of cloth and a machete. From this and from what Ukyou told me...

this might be fun.] She put the test tube in her pocket and hid

the machete and cloth behind her usual hidden panel in the main closet.

Then, she waited.

It wasn't long before a red-and-black blur bolted past her, shouting,

"WHEREWHEREWHEREWHEREWHEREWHEREWHERE..." When he paused to look under

the table, she tapped him on the shoulder, and teasingly waved the vial

in front of him.

"Looking for THIS?"

Ratiko turned, and stared. He started to say something, then stopped,

and began to tremble.

"Per... Per..."

"PER-haps there's something we need to talk about, Hmm?"

He pointed a finger at her.

"YOU!"

"Yes, me. Tendou Nabiki. And you're Hibiki Ratiko. Now that we have

the introductions over with, let's get down to business. I have here-"

She was cut off.

"YOU!"

[Seems he inherited the Hibiki intelligence, as well.]

"Is that all you can say?" She smiled and once again tantalised him

with the test tube.

"Why, I..." He began to form a battle aura. A white one, she noted,

not blue like his alleged ancestor's. She was treading on dangerous

ground - but if this 'Ratiko' was as easily manipulated with secrets

as 'P-Chan'...

"I also have the machete, AND the cloth." The ki-flames surrounding

the boy suddenly shifted to black. "If anything happens to ME, a full

report of what you were going to do with them goes to Ryouga," she

bluffed. She had a VAGUE idea of what he was planning, but that was all

she needed to set the trap.

The field surrounding Ratiko flickered, switching in between black and

white, clicking faster and faster, until the two became one, and the aura

settled on a dull grey.

"What do you want of me?" his voice sounded tamed, but his eyes were

still wild...

"Just... to get to KNOW you better." [And get paid for it.]

"To... to KNOW me better?"

"Hai. That's all."

"You... You don't want me to help kill your sister... or to... or to

with... with great-grampa?"

Nabiki blinked. She'd rather not think too hard about that last

reference.

"Why would I want to kill Akane?"

"Akane?"

"I only HAVE two sisters, and the other one's-"

"Tendou Kasumi."

"Right. You mean..." Another piku. KILL Kasumi? Ranma, she could

understand. There was a waiting list a mile long to get rid of him [and

this fellow just might think he's on it. The poor boy doesn't have a

chance, if the doujou destroyer failed.] Ryouga, perhaps, but he was

just to sweet for ANYONE to hate permanently. Akane, maybe as a way to get

at Ranma... but KASUMI?! Odd. Very odd. Thinking that ANYONE would want

to get rid of Oneechan, especially HER... This interview might turn out

to be worth more than her fee. "WHEN did you say you were from, again?"

"Twenty ninety-six."

"Hibiki Ratiko, right? Descended from Ukyou and Ryouga?"

The boy scowled, and his battle aura shrank somewhat, solidifying into

a sort of luminescent 'skin'.

"Not quite."

"Huh?"

"It's REIRAKU, not Ratiko."

"Reiraku? What kind of sadistic parents would name their kid

'Downfall'?"

He lunged at her. Thankfully, years of living with martial artists had

given her quick reflexes, and she dodged, sending him flying against a

wall, which promptly collapsed.

"Oh, my!" said Kasumi, through the new doorway into the kitchen, then

went back to frying wonton.

'Reiraku' shook himself, stood up, and turned back to Nabiki.

"Yes, Perdita. DOWNFALL. _YOUR_ downfall."

"WHAT?!"

"For what you have done to Tendou Kasumi and Hibiki Ryouga, you will

PAY!"

"Ratty-baby, I've done NOTHING to Kasumi, and it's Ryouga that pays

ME, when he's in need of my... services."

"You've ALREADY SLEPT WITH HIM?!"

"Oh, my! Nabiki, why didn't you tell me?" Breaded meat dropped to the

floor, and the elder Tendou covered her mouth in shock.

"I HAVEN'T!" She didn't know whether to be confused, or just

plain angry at the suggestion. "Let's just say, 'Reiraku', that he uses

my INFORMATIONAL services, on occasion. I may not give much away for free,

but I do NOT sell MYSELF."

"THAT is a matter of opinion." Ratiko's teeth clenched, letting only a

hiss escape.

"What is NOT, is the tale told by the blade and the cloth." She

raised the vial. "OR by this blood, here. I wonder whose it'll turn out

to be if we test it... Will it match the owner of the scrap, I wonder?"

"You are despicable."

"Can't blame a girl for tryin' to make a profit." She smiled, just

because she knew it would make him furious, and he wouldn't be able to do

a thing about it. [Oh, how I LOVE having men at my fingertips...]

"Profit?" He scowled. "I knew it. What KIND of... profit?"

"I don't suppose you have any money that's any good here..."

"I have plenty of Kunous, but those won't be minted for several

decades."

"Kunous?"

"Kunous."

"As in, Kunou Kodachi, and Kunou Tatewaki?"

"HOW DARE YOU MENTION THOSE TWO NAMES IN THE SAME BREATH?!"

The aura was back to a flame now, and the grey was definitely getting

paler. His ki was strong, and it seemed to be mostly based on anger and

depression. White for the first, and black for the latter, maybe? Nabiki

made a mental note.

"Is there something WRONG with that?"

"Well, I..."

"You can tell me about all of this on our date."

She would have preferred to know NOW. After all, this was quite

unnerving... but Kasumi's cooking dinner meant that the others would be

back soon, and she didn't want them spoiling her plans.

"DATE?!" The 'daunting warrior' illusion fell apart at the seams,

and Ratiko's knees wobbled like a block of agar in a maelstrom.

Nabiki grinned.

"You've got to pay me SOMEHOW. You can't expect me to keep silent on

something like this for NOTHING. Plus, I wanna chance to learn about you,

and... when you come from." [There's an understatement... He thought I'd

murder Kasumi, and the currency is the KUNOU?!]

"But... I don't have money."

"I'm sure you can find someone to give you a job. You'd only need to

work a few hours to get enough money to buy dinner."

"Work?"

"W-O-R-K."

"But... I... I've never HAD a job!" His voice went from a growl to a

whine.

"WHAT?!"

"What do *I* need a job for? Back where *I* come from, I'm heir to the

largest security company in Japan! Surely you don't expect me to... to do

MANUAL LABOUR!"

[Security company? Probably some sort of stock trader... This kid is

likely to know a heck of a lot more about the future of the financial

markets than that Miyabi girl. And ANY information, if accurate, will let

me make a killing. Good...]

"You'll be doing HARD labour, if you don't."

There was a pause, as the future Hibiki re-evaluated his situation.

[Just like his great-grandfather. It takes a few minutes for

information to sink in.]

"Can't I do anything ELSE?"

"No. Take it or leave it. It's my last offer... I'm a very busy woman,

and I've got other fish to fry."

Ratiko sighed.

"I'll take it. But who will give me a job? I don't have any ID, any

money, any references..."

Nabiki watched with glee as his ki-flames blackened. She'd been right.

White for anger, black for depression, grey for both.

"There IS one person..."

"WHO?"

She looked at Kasumi through the hole in the wall. Her big sister had

finished cleaning up the mess, and was going back to cooking, which meant

she'd be oblivious to the world... More than usual, that is. No sense

taking pointless risks, though.

"Hmm... We need somewhere more private to discuss this." She turned

towards the kitchen. "Oneechan! Rat and I are going on a little walk.

Don't set places for us for dinner!"

"I'll save the leftovers for when you get back!" Kasumi smiled and

cocked her head.

"Arigatou!" said her sister.

Nabiki turned to the time-traveller.

"You coming?"

"Do I have a choice?"

"Not really. Which reminds me..." She took the test tube, stuck it

safely in her bosom, and smiled. "Better safe than sorry!" Ratiko's aura

lightened a shade or two. "And... tone down the battle aura, will you? We

don't want people staring."

The Hibiki growled, but complied. He closed his eyes, took some deep

breaths, and in seconds the raging ki-fire was reduced to a faint, nigh-

undetectable glow.

Just as he opened them again, voices were heard on the front porch.

Saotome-san, Daddy, Ranma, Akane, and... someone else...

"Speak of the hentai," muttered Nabiki. "Come on. We've got to

hurry. The others are back, and if they find us here together, talking

about this..." She made a slicing motion across her throat.

"Anou... Wha?"

"Just come with me."

She took him by the arm, and led him out by the doujou's back door,

just as Miyabi walked in.

"Ojiisan, sofu, stop following me!" Miyabi was nearly in tears as she

pleaded with her grandfathers. They ignored her and anything BUT their

ecstasy at the living 'proof' of the union of their children.

"Isn't it WONDERFUL, Saotome-san?" Soun's waterworks were at full

flow, but for joy, for once.

"Oh, YES, Tendou-kun. Our children will marry, and have lots of

grandchildren!"

"They'll have three!"

"Six!"

"A dozen!"

"A gross!"

"The only thing that's GROSS is someone thinkin' I'd ever... I'd

ever... YOU KNOW... with that... that TOMBOY!"

Miyabi allowed herself to stop crying for a bit, and smirked.

"That's not what *I* hear, dad..."

Ranma blushed a deep red, and began to stammer.

"RANMA! How could you be so CALLOUS?! In front of our DAUGHTER,

even!"

"But... I... She... She said that we..."

"Is it so difficult to BELIEVE that you might actually ENJOY being

with me?"

Akane realised what she had just said, and covered her mouth, too

late.

"A... Akane... I didn't know that you..."

[Now THIS is more like the mum and dad I remember...]

"It's already STARTING, Saotome-kun! I'm so HAPPY!"

"No need to say that NAME, Tendou-kun."

Soun nodded gravely.

"Too true, Saotome."

For once, they weren't malleted or sent into low-earth orbit for their

enthusiasm. The two involuntary fiancees were far too busy staring at each

other.

[Great... Maybe they're actually getting to LIKE one another,] thought

Miyabi. [It's just so... So WEIRD! They're in love, just like always, but

it's like they have shades on, or something...]

Ranma shuffled his feet uncomfortably.

"I *still* say that Akane's enough to make ANYONE stay single..."

"Listen to your baby, boy!" said Genma.

"I'm not a BABY!" shouted Miyabi. No one heard her.

"You WILL marry Akane," added Soun in his most commanding voice. "And

you WILL have LOTS of children..."

"Actually..." said Miyabi. "There's only me..."

Ranma cut in before she could finish.

"Ya see? Even if I DO end up with this macho chick, the first time

makes me swear off that kinda thing for LIFE!"

Akane had been fuming silently during this last exchange. Now, steam

began to pour out of her ears, and she tensed her muscles, preparing to

deck Ranma. Miyabi, however, had had MORE than enough. She clenched her

fist and uppercutted her father, yelling, "AND MY LITTLE BROTHER!"

"She is certainly Akane's daughter, Tendou."

Genma grinned.

"To be sure, Saotome-kun. To be sure."

The pig-tailed projectile sailed across the room, smashing into the

front door just as it was opened by a familiar, bandanna-clad figure. A

two-ton umbrella came down promptly on his head, and Ranma was left

stunned, hands in the Takahashi pain posture.

Miyabi blinked.

"Oh. Hi, Ryouga-oji-san!" she said. Akane composed herself and waved

a welcome.

The Lost Boy winced at being called 'Uncle'.

"That's... that's what I came here about... You're... you're Akane's

daughter, right?"

"Hai!"

"By... by Ranma?"

"Of course!" shouted Genma.

"We're already planning the wedding!" added Soun. The two prospective

grandfathers hugged each other and began to dance around, and then out of,

the living room.

Their joy only made Ryouga sink deeper into despair.

"Is something wrong, Ryouga-kun?" asked Akane, staring at the door

through which her father had just left.

"No, nothing's wrong. I just..." The lost boy sighed. "Ratiko's

arrival has given me something to think about." He stepped over the

unresponsive Ranma and sat on a nearby chair.

"THAT weirdo's enough to start ANYONE thinking," said Miyabi. "The

boy's as crazy as the Kunous!"

Ryouga shook his head.

"That's not what I meant... For years, I hoped that if I ended up with

anyone, it'd be..." He looked at Akane. "It'd be someone in particular,

but to find out that Ukyou's the one I... I... It's like having a dream

shattered."

"But... Oji-san... You and Ukyou make a GREAT couple!"

Akane was puzzled. Ryouga was actually INTERESTED in someone?

"Who is it that you wanted to be with?" she asked.

"It doesn't matter. Not NOW."

"Of course it does!" Akane chastised him. "Nothing's written in stone!

Things can change!"

Ranma was just recovering. He dusted himself off, checked for broken

bones, then added:

"No kiddin'! An' they'll have to change a LOT before I marry HER!"

"Otousan!" Tears flowed down his daughter's cheeks, once again.

Ryouga growled.

"It's not ENOUGH for you to know YOU get Akane; you also have to make

your DAUGHTER'S life miserable, like everyone ELSE'S?"

"Hey! That's not what I..."

"Oh, no? Akane has more suitors than you have fiancees, you're the ONE

person that has a chance with her, and you just THROW THAT AWAY!"

Akane blushed, and tried to stop him.

"Ryouga-kun, I think that-"

"SOME people would KILL for that gift, Saotome." The Hibiki stood and

took a few menacing paces towards his eternal opponent.

Ranma noted the wild,dangerous glare in his eyes, and backed up.

"Cool off, Ryouga! We do this ALL the time."

"I _KNOW_." A growl. Some more steps.

"Oji-san! Stop it!"

"RYOUGA!"

Already, a blue battle aura was forming around him.

"Noooooooooooo!" Miyabi dashed towards him, grabbing onto his back,

but the lost boy was too far gone to notice.

"Ryouga," pleaded Akane. "Stop it! Do it... Do it for me!"

The juggernaut paused, then turned around.

"A-Akane..."

His eyes lost their killer glint, and his features softened. Saotome

took a deep breath and shook his head to clear it.

The blue ki-energy flickered, then faded to nothing. Miyabi let go of

her 'uncle', and ran sobbing out of the room.

"Miyabi! Wait!" Akane began to call to her, but Ryouga stopped her,

putting a hand on her shoulder.

"I think she needs to be alone for a bit," he said. "I know how she

feels."

Akane nodded.

Miyabi ran as fast as her legs could carry her. Up the stairs, into

her mother's room, out the window, and finally onto the doujou roof.

Why did things have to be this way? Mom and dad fighting ALL the

time and telling one another that they hated each other, and

Ryouga-oji-san trying to kill dad... She'd HEARD about all this, but it'd

never quite sunk in. In HER time, her parents teased each other (more

physically than others, true, and it usually involved heavy property

damage, but no one was ever really EMOTIONALLY hurt), Ryouga was HAPPY

with Ukyou, and their rivalry was little more than an 'old boys' friendly

bickering. Super-charged, martial arts bickering, but bickering

nonetheless. HERE, everything was so much more... serious... and... and

the FEELINGS! No one seemed truly HAPPY. She still couldn't believe that

her parents would pretend not to love each other. It was OBVIOUS that

they did.

This wasn't her time.

This wasn't her place.

Miyabi wanted to go home.

Wiping her tears with a finger, and brushing loose strands of hair out

of her face, she looked at the sky. No stars to wish on, tonight. Only

the moon...

The Moon was surrounded by a watery halo, and dark clouds blocked the

starlight. It would rain tonight.

Childra looked down.

It was getting late, and the Saotome boy STILL hadn't shown up.

Despite his big talk about 'responsibility' and 'proper times', she was

beginning to get the feeling that he'd stranded them here.

Not that that'd be a BAD thing; not ENTIRELY... Even with the changes

in this timeline, her knowledge of history should allow her to amass a

fortune with a few well-placed bets and investments. Nothing so far had

shown her that the invention of the hover-car would go any differently

than it had before, for instance, and if she managed to buy some of that

stock before the big rush...

Forget it. That Ryo fellow was right about ONE thing. This wasn't

where she was MEANT to be. It might be fun for a LITTLE while; with all

the most important figures in her time being young and romantically

frustrated, but after that...

AFTER THAT? Heck, she hadn't even begun! She'd seen the Kunou mansion

from afar, and hadn't even TRIED to get in... The only person she'd even

SLIGHTLY warmed up to was...

Was Ishido.

She smiled. The boy was nice. Shy? Yes. Inexperienced? Yes. But, he

WAS courteous, maybe even... Chivalrous. She might settle for a tryst

with HIM, she decided, especially if she wasn't going back... One of the

attractions of her hit list was that the liaisons would have no

repercussions upon her, or her reality; but it THIS was to be her

reality...

She had to find that locket.

Now.

Childra reached automatically for her machete, then remembered that

she'd lent it to Rat. Strange, that Mr. 'Nervous Hibiki' should even

THINK of handling a weapon, let alone want to TRAIN with it... Where'd he

left it, anyhow? He'd certainly not taken it on their little 'trip', and

if he'd lost it...

Oh, well.

Her bo it was, then.

SOME kind of weapon would be needed, when Saotome realised that that

piece of silver was more than a curse. All the possibilities...

Unlimited, unregulated time travel. Scratch that. ALTERNITY travel. Just

like in Shakespeare... 'Jumping o'er times, turning the accomplishments of

many years into an hour-glass...' Last time she saw him, he claimed to

want to be rid of it. His absence told another story. Apparently, he'd

finally recognised its true worth.

Even if he hadn't, he wouldn't be too hot on giving it to HER, and

she HAD to own it. Just the thought of it... No more paperwork, no more

years of waiting for a twenty-minute time-trip... And this fool was

going to either destroy the locket, or keep it for his own uncultured,

untaught self. Only a HISTORIAN should be allowed to have it. Someone

who knew exactly how best to use it.

Someone like her.

No sweat. All she had to do was find him, take the artefact (by force,

if need be) and... Well, she wasn't exactly sure what'd she do THEN. She

had all the other reality-jumpers to deal with. She'd think of

something.

First priority was to find him.

[If he's still in this alternity...]

All else would follow.

If she remembered correctly, he'd gone off...

[In THAT direction.]

Jansen plucked her bo out of hammer-space, and began to walk.

"Leaving?" A voice behind her. Male.

She turned. It was Ishido.

"I'm... concerned about Ryo."

"I am too. Somehow, I just don't buy his story about being a

Gosunkugi..."

"The OTHER Ryo. As for that one, trust me, hon, with that figure, he

IS a Gosunkugi."

Ishido sighed.

"I suppose you're right," he said. "But..."

"But?"

"You shouldn't go off alone like that. It's just not safe!" It came

out rather quickly, in a single stream of speech.

"Oh?" Lobis was WORRIED about her? Childra grinned. Chalk one up in

HIS favour. "Why not?" she asked.

"Well, it's dark, and..."

"I LIKE it dark."

"I'm not fooling around!" His face began to twist itself with anger,

then suddenly stopped. He shook his head, as if to clear it, and spoke in

a much softer tone. "I'm sorry... I didn't mean to..."

Childra blinked.

"Sorry?"

"I'm sorry I shouted at you... I just... I just don't want you hurt,

OK? You're only one person, and we don't know this place, and..."

"And here I thought you didn't LIKE me..." She smoothed her hair and

walked towards him, hips swaying and body twisting in her most seductive

fashion.

'Wolfie' began to sweat, and backed up.

"It's... It's not THAT... There's... We're all in the same boat, and

I can't allow any of us to get hurt."

Jansen stopped.

[Shy, indeed...]

"My point exactly," she said. "Saotome's run off, and we need him

more than anyone else. Therefore," she twirled her bo and turned back

towards the path, "I'm going to go find him."

She started down the road.

"Wait!"

Ishido raised his hand, trying to stop her.

[Right on time...]

"Yes?"

"I'll... I'll go with you..."

[I thought you'd NEVER ask... Unfortunately, this is one trip I CAN'T

take you on, much as I'd enjoy a moonlight stroll with you...]

"It's best that I go alone."

"Why?"

"Well... Er..." [THINK, Childra, THINK. You can't bloody well tell

him it's because you want to steal the locket...] "Someone should stay

here, just in case Rat or Ryo (either one of them) shows up."

"What about Miyabi?"

"She'll be too busy with her family to notice."

"Er... Right... I..." Ishido shuffled his feet. "I'll stay here,

then. And watch out for the others."

Jansen smiled.

"Good. I'll see you when I get back."

"I'll be here."

[I certainly hope so... I really do...]

She twirled her bo and started on the road, with Ishido watching as

she disappeared into the darkness.

This time alone had been good for her. Ever since she'd arrived here,

it'd been nothing but 'meet this person', 'meet that person', 'let your

parents know your fate'. Not to mention having to deal with that Ryo

pervert. It made Miyabi sick to think that she might have as hentai a

half-brother as THAT.

Now she'd had time to collect her thoughts. It didn't make her feel

any more comfortable, but at least she'd managed to calm down.

Somewhat.

She'd needed the rest; the break from the action. Now she was

relaxed, and might be able to talk to her parents without shouting at

them, or sending them flying across the room.

"Miyabi?"

"Huh?" Someone tapped her on the shoulder. She turned around, and saw

her mother. "Hi, mum."

Akane blushed slightly. It seemed she was still getting used to the

idea that she might have a daughter.

"Are you all right?"

"Yeah. I just needed to be by myself for a while. That's all."

"Ranma and I were talking..."

"Just talking?" Miyabi smirked. "You've been doing a lot MORE than

that, 'least while I'VE been here. Hitting each other, shouting, saying

you don't like one another..."

"I'm sorry. You have to realise, that we... We just aren't USED to

thinking that we might..."

"That you might actually LOVE each other?"

Akane blushed.

"H-Hai."

"Trust me. That changes. A LOT."

"Right now, all we know is that... Ranma and I were engaged against

our wills; we hardly even KNOW each other." A pause. "We STILL don't know

each other, all that well. So, when YOU walk in..."

"I understand, mum." Miyabi's eyes started to water. "I'm sorry for

shouting at you. It's just that seeing you two like this... You're my

PARENTS!"

Akane sat down next to her, and wrapped her arms around her future

daughter.

"We'll try to behave, Miyabi." The Tendou girl's eyes twinkled.

"That's such a nice name..."

"You chose it, mum."

A drop of rain touched Akane on the nose.

"It's beginning to rain... Is it okay for you to..."

Miyabi grinned.

"I don't have a curse, mum. You wouldn't let dad do anything as dumb

as THAT."

"I'm glad." She smiled.

"I'd... I'd like to go inside, though. Just because I don't turn into

a guy doesn't mean I like getting wet."

"Hai. Let's go into my room. Kasumi's made some tea and cookies,

and..." She twiddled her fingers. "There's... There's a lot I'd like to

know about."

"About you and dad?"

Her mother nodded.

"There's a lot I'd like to TELL you."

More drops came, and it began to drizzle.

"Let's go, then... daughter." With a smile, the two girls climbed

down, and through the open window into Akane's room.

"Curse you, Saotome! Because of you, I have SCRUBBED the inside of a

POT!"

The white aura surrounding Ratiko went well with the decor in the

kitchen. There were some dirty dishes, many stacks of clean ones,and a

sink in between the two piles, all laid out on a white-tiled counter

and surrounded by cream-coloured walls and floor.

"Are you done with the dishes?" asked Ukyou from the main room of

Ucchan's.

"Almost, great-grandmother! Almost! I WILL finish cleaning them. In

this, I will not fail!"

"Er... Okay... Just tell me when they're clean and I'll pay you what

I promised."

'I can find you a job,' Nabiki had said. 'No qualifications needed,

and in a few hours, you'll be able to raise enough money to pay for my

dinner.' What Perdita had FAILED to mention was the fact that he'd be

pearl-diving at his ancestor's restaurant. The shame of the situation

was almost past compare...

And yet, it was a dishonour that HAD to be endured. Nabiki held all

the evidence, and if his plot was revealed...

[Best not to think about that.]

Only a few minutes, and the last wok was rinsed and set out to dry.

"Great-grandmother! I'm FINISHED!"

Ukyou walked in, wiping her hands on her apron.

"I wish you wouldn't call me that. It makes me sound like Cologne..."

"I apologise, ancestress."

Kuonji face-faulted.

"Just call me Ukyou, okay? You're OLDER than I am!"

"Very well... Ukyou."

The woman inspected the work he'd done.

"Not bad... Not bad... First time, you say?"

"Hai."

"Then you've REALLY earned your paycheque."

She dug into her pockets and pulled out a few bills.

"Here you go. Should be more than enough to pay for your dinner with

Nabiki." Ukyou suppressed a giggle as she handed the money to Ratiko.

"Arigatou!"

"Don't mention it... You might want to leave soon, though. It's

already started to rain, and it looks like it'll only get worse."

Ratiko froze.

"R-Rain?"

"Rain. Why, is something wrong?" There was a pause, in which neither

said anything. Then, Kuonji noted the boy's expression. She'd seen it

before. "Wait... Don't tell me YOU have a curse like Ranchan's!"

Ratiko nodded grimly.

"You also turn into a girl?"

"I wasn't that lucky."

"Sorry?"

"I don't want to talk about it," he said softly, and looked away.

"Could you lend me an umbrella?"

"Sorry... I seem to have lent the last one out... Oh, dear, dear,

dear... What EVER are we going to do?"

It was impossible to miss the sarcasm dripping from Ukyou's mouth.

Then again, this was a Hibiki.

"But... if it's raining... then I can't... Could I use the phone?"

"To call Nabiki?"

"Hai."

Ukyou grinned, and gestured at the wall-mounted set.

"Be my guest. I'll go back and serve the customers." With that, she

left back to the main eating area.

Reiraku pulled the scrap of paper Nabiki had given him out of his

pocket and dialled the number for the Tendou doujou. It was only a few

rings before he got through.

'Tendou doujou; Nabiki speaking.'

"This is Ratiko."

'Did you get the cash?'

"Yes."

'Good. I'll meet you at that French restaurant in fifteen minutes.'

"I... I'm afraid I can't..."

'We made a DEAL! If you want to call it off, I can always tell

Ryouga... He's here right now, you know.'

"No! Don't! What I mean is..." He growled. "It's RAINING."

'Raining? And you can't go to the restaurant because...' For a full

minute, nothing but laughter came from the other end of the line.

'Another Hibiki, and he's also cursed... I can't believe it! This is just

TOO funny...'

"I don't think so."

'You wouldn't, would you?'

"No."

'So, what spring'd YOU fall into?'

"I'd rather not talk about it."

'If YOU don't talk, *I* _WILL_.'

"Spring-of-attractive-drowned-female-bat," he said, as quickly as he

could manage it.

'You MUST be JOKING.'

"I wish I were." More laughter. For TWO minutes, this time.

"Could you... Could you get a taxi to take us there?"

'Why don't YOU order the cab, Rat?'

"I don't have enough money for both that AND dinner."

'Sorry. Can't help you there. YOU'RE the one who has to pay for this;

I refuse to put in a cent when I don't have to.'

"HOW ARE WE SUPPOSED TO *EAT*, THEN?!"

'You're at Ucchan's, ne?'

"Hai, but..."

'So we'll eat THERE. Ukyou's a good cook. I don't mind."

"But... But she's my great-grandmother!"

'Then you're keeping the cash in the family.'

"..."

'I'll walk over there. Shouldn't be too long.'

*click*

Ratiko hung up.

"Get everything sorted out?" Ukyou called from the main room.

"Nabiki wants us to eat here."

"Fine by me!"

He walked into the dining area. It was empty.

"Where are all the customers?"

"They... Um... Dinner hours are mostly over..." The proprietress of

the restaurant glanced nervously at the sign hanging on her window.

"Oh. I don't know much about these things... When I'm at home, the

cook makes us dinner, and at the Uni it's cafeteria eating all the way,

so I don't get much of a chance to go to restaurants."

"I see..."

"What I'm wonderin' is how I'll be able to get food AFTER tonight.

I figure you don't have need of a full-time dish washer?"

"Tell you what. Since you're eating here, and you ARE related to me,"

she said with a slight reluctance, "dinner tonight is on me, and you can

keep the cash. As for the other... You're free to work here as long as you

need to. I can use the help."

"Arigatou, great-grandmother!"

"Ukyou."

"I'm sorry... Ukyou."

"It's all right." She smiled. "When did Nabiki say she'd be here?"

"In a few minutes. She's walking over."

"Take a seat, then. It shouldn't be long."

Ratiko sat himself at one of the tables, and waited.

Nabiki hung up the phone.

Everything was going as planned. She'd kill two birds with one stone;

Ukyou would get her information, and she'd get her free dinner.

Behind her, in the living room, her father and Saotome-san were trying

to comfort a distraught Ranma.

Predictably, they weren't having much success. Poor Ranma was upset

that he'd gotten Akane and Miyabi angry, and all that THOSE two could do

was remind him how great everything would be once he MARRIED her little

sis.

Nabiki rolled her eyes.

Just as well she was leaving. Things were going to get ugly.

"Bye, daddy!" she shouted, as she pulled her trench-coat from the

closet.

Soun poked his head out.

"Where are you going, Nabiki?"

"I have a date. With Ratiko."

"Hibiki?"

"Hai. We're eating at Ucchan's, and probably won't be back 'til late."

"You... You're dating that... Him..."

Full waterworks.

"It'll be all right, daddy. you'll see." Nabiki smiled.

"My little girl... WAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

"Good-BYE, father." She snuck out before he could grab her, pulling

her coat around herself as she walked into the rain.

Nabiki managed to walk only a block or two before she had to stop for

a red light.

What passed her, though, was no ordinary stream of cars.

Mikado Sanzenin, the skater, was being pursued by a cackling Kodachi,

wielding a ribbon and in full gymnast's garb. SHE, in turn, was being

chased by Happousai.

Nabiki sighed, and waited for the light to turn green.

Jansen could feel the presence following her, but the darkness and

the trees' obscuring branches made it impossible to make anything out

visually.

Now and then, she would pause in mid-step, and might be rewarded

with the careless cracking of a twig, but when she turned to find her

pursuer, she was always left in the dark.

[Blast it,] she thought. [It'd be just the thing if Saotome was

looking for ME at the same time that I was after his locket... If he

thinks he's going to get anything from me, though...] Childra fingered

her bo, then smiled. [Well... Anything having to do with TIME TRAVEL,

anyway.]

A new sound. Breathing.

[He's grown more audacious... Now he's close enough to hear... Just

come closer, lad... Just try it.]

The sounds grew louder, and she was able to feel his body warmth

impinging on her own. Years of dealing with men had led her to know

when a hand was about to be placed on her, and at this moment...

[Oh, no you don't.]

Childra pulled out her bo and swung it in a neat horizontal

parabola, finally connecting behind her with the head of-

"Ishido?!"

The amnesiac rubbed his jaw and worked it tentatively. It was still

attached. Barely.

He grinned sheepishly and waved.

"Hi, Childra."

"I TOLD you to stay at the doujou!"

"I... I know... But..." He clenched and loosened his fists, trying

to find a way to explain. "It's just not RIGHT to leave you alone! I

mean; Ryo's as much MY concern as he is YOURS. I should help look for

him."

Jansen sighed.

[Great. NOW what am I supposed to do? Looks like I'll have to

genuinely search for Saotome... Can't go for the locket with Lobis

around, and...]

Her thoughts were disrupted by a cackling sound making its way through

the drizzle.

[That laugh... PLEASE tell me it's not-]

"GIVE ME BACK MY RANMA-SAMA!"

"What the?!" Ishido was startled.

[Ranma-sama? No... It can't be... Just a coincidence... Deity, let it

be a coincidence.]

Jansen strained her eyes, trying to make sense out of the blurs of

movement which the faint moonlight allowed her to detect.

[Figures approaching... Two? Three?]

A closer look.

[Two-and-a-half?]

All doubts were precipitously settled when Mikado bumped into Childra

at about Mach 2 while running away from Kodachi, who developed a sudden

interest in 'Wolf-boy'.

Happousai just grinned.

"OHohoHohOhoHohohOh! I see you have come to your senses, and finally

led the Black Rose to where you've been KEEPING my darling Ranma."

"Ranma? Where?!" Ishido looked around him.

"I think she means YOU, dear," answered Jansen, never taking her eyes

off the skater. For that matter, Sanzenin never took his eyes off HER.

"Come to me, my Ranma!"

"I'm NOT RANMA!"

"No use pretending, my darling..." Kodachi advanced, step by measured

step. Ishido grit his teeth and backed away at the same pace. If anything

could bring his 'programming' back, this situation could, and he wasn't

about to let Cologne's cure be undone.

"What are YOU staring at, cutie?" asked Childra.

"Why you, of course," said the skater. "I am powerless to resist your

beauty... Allow me a single kiss..."

"What?"

"I yearn to touch your lips with mine, to hold you in my arms so I may

say that I have truly lived."

[Hmm... That's the best offer I've had since I've been here... and if

I leave Kodachi alone with Lobis, it's quite possible she'll find a way to

bring him out of that blasted shell of propriety he keeps himself in...]

"Just a minute, hon." She called to the Kunou. "Kodachi?"

"Who dares interrupt me in the middle of my time with Ranma-sama?"

"Take a closer look at him. He doesn't LOOK like Ranma, does he?"

Kodachi squinted her eyes, trying to make out Ishido's features in the

moonlight.

"You're right... But..."

"SEE?" said the wolf. "I *TOLD* YOU!"

"It's because he's had a spell put on him," continued Jansen.

"NANI?!" Ishido barely avoided a face-fault.

"Ranma Sat... Er... The female Ranma has bewitched him so that he will

not regain his true form or memories until he has been one of body with an

appropriate woman."

"CHILDRA, WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?! YOU CAN'T LET THIS HAPPEN

TO ME!"

"Of course not," she winked. "That's why I'm trying to get help for

you, RANMA." Then, to the Kunou, "If no one kisses him, he'll turn into a

frog."

"What... What's going on?" asked Mikado, clearly very confused.

Childra hushed him.

"I always KNEW my brother had it backwards. Of COURSE it's that

leotarded insect who performs the black magic. My beloved is too great to

sink to such depths." She nodded her head to the historian. "Thank you for

the information." A glint in her eyes, and a wicked smile. "Ranma-sama

will be back to his glorious self in no time..."

Ishido began to move away, preparing to bolt, but the Black Rose was

not caught unawares, and ensnared him in her strongest ribbon, then

attached herself to him.

There were no screams.

From past experience, she had learned to pass one loop of her weapon

through the victim's mouth, as a gag.

"Have fun, you two!" Jansen smiled, and turned to Mikado. "Now, about

US..." A sly wink. "Are you sure all you want is a kiss?"

Sanzenin's jaw dropped and his eyelids went into spastic convulsions.

"What... What did you say?"

Childra shrugged.

"I'm a lonely girl, and you... Well..."

The look on her face said it all.

Her index finger pointing towards a nearby wooded area said more.

The skater laughed, and held his hands in an expression of triumph.

"I KNEW it! Even older, beautiful women like you are HELPLESS before

me!"

"WHAT?!"

Jansen thought she could hear Ishido giggle from under Kodachi.

"No one can withstand the might of Mikado Sanzenin, for when he

ventures to cast his line, he always reels in a carp!"

"EXCUSE ME..." The drops of rain froze around her mouth as she spoke.

"I am *NOT* helpless."

"Oh, poor dear... Of COURSE I shall satisfy your desires... From

henceforth you may say proudly to the world that you have been the

paramour of the greatest amante since Don Juan Tenorio!"

[That does it.]

Childra pulled her bo out once again and held it ready at her side.

"So, you think you've hit third base?"

"Huh?"

"How about a HOME RUN?" Grasping the staff with both hands at one end,

she swung the other into Mikado's midsection, propelling him against the

trunk of a nearby tree and turning the would-be Casanova into an

unconscious pile of flesh.

"People who mess with woman's lust go very hard place."

All this time, Happousai had been sitting forgotten in the shadows,

waiting for the inevitable moment when one of the two beauties would

become available.

The skater was stunned, and Childra was alone.

Happi glomped her.

"AIEE!" she shouted. "Get OFF of me!"

"PRETTY LADY! PRETTY LADY!" He burrowed his head in her chest.

"What IS this thing? I don't like it! Take it off! Take it off!"

"Take it off! Take it off!" shouted Kodachi, pulling and tugging,

trying to tear the clothes off her unwilling lover without untying him.

Ishido managed to twist his head from within Kodachi's bonds far

enough to see the scene.

Being confused for Ranma, he could understand, under the

circumstances.

Being bound by ribbons, he could take.

Finding himself under a beautiful, albeit crazy young woman who was

dead-set on making him lose any purity he might have left, he might even

learn to enjoy.

But to have THAT *lecher* doing... THOSE THINGS to CHILDRA...

The wolf's eyes began to glow red.

"Ranma-sama? What's wrong? Is it the spell? You seem a bit-"

The ribbons burst.

"You never cease to impress me with your strength, my-"

He tossed her off without a thought, leaving her stunned on the

pavement, then rushed to his fellow reality-jumper.

Childra saw him come, turning away briefly from her struggle to pull

the ancient martial artist off of her, and noticed the glow in his eyes.

"Ishido? What... What's happened to you?"

No answer.

Instead, when he was close enough, a single cry:

"ROU-SOU-KEN!"

His fist was surrounded by a glowing energy, which coalesced into

a paw-shaped form. He swung once, and connected, turning Happousai into

Sputnik II.

Jansen relaxed, and wiped her brow clear of sweat and rain.

"Thanks, Ishido. I had no idea that... Uh-oh..." It seemed that

'Lobis' wasn't quite finished. He now set his sights on his erstwhile

companion, a predatorial smile filling his face. "Snap out of it! You're

scaring me!" Just in case, the historian grabbed her weapon.

[I don't want to hurt you, Ishi... But... I don't know what's come

over you, and if you try to fight me...]

He was breathing strong breaths, each huff audible, and his fists were

clenched at his side.

Ishido's crimson eyes were focused straight on Childra's green ones.

He swung.

She flinched, and prepared to strike back.

The fist halted inches from her head.

He would not hurt her, after all.

As she looked on, amazed, the twisted animal's visage smoothed into

that of the man she knew, and his blood-hued eyes cleared into a perfect

violet.

Ishido froze and looked around him, as if he couldn't quite believe

what he'd just done.

He shook his head and framed it with his hands, as if in some great

pain.

Jansen reached out to comfort him, but he refused her touch.

"Oh... God... Childra... I... I..."

He broke and ran, the glow completely gone.

Tears streamed from his face and mixed with the drops which fell

from the sky at an ever-increasing rate.

"Ishido, WAIT!" Jansen raised a hand to stop him, but it was too

late. He was gone, and she was once again alone.

She gave the scene a cursory glance, barely noticing Kodachi and

Mikado lying on the ground. Her heart and mind were elsewhere.

[I suppose I'll have to go back to the doujou, and let them know these

two are here. They can send some of the men to pick them up and take them

to the clinic. It's not like it's any use trying to get the locket

NOW...]

She walked away, dragging her bo on the ground behind her, as the

drizzle grew into a downpour.

The raindrops fell harder upon the roof of Ucchan's, making Ratiko

sink deeper into his chair. There was no way out of this one; at least not

while it was wet out. He was stuck on a date with a monster, and he'd just

have to grin and bear it.

"If you keep doing that to your face, it'll stay that way."

Well, maybe not exactly GRIN...

He had to admit, though, that for a fiendish adulteress, murderess and

bogeyman, Per... Nabiki made an awfully cute seventeen-year-old.

"I was trying to RELAX," he said.

Nabiki waved away the wisps of smoke coming from where the booth's

seat came in contact with his grey battle aura.

"So I see..."

"My booth!" Ukyou let her spatula fall to the floor. "Who's going to

pay for it?!"

"Don't worry, Kuonji. I'll cover it."

Ratiko blinked. She was... She was going to HELP him out? With

MONEY?

"Don't look so surprised," continued his sworn enemy. "After all the

information you've given me," she patted a notebook lying on the table,

"it's the LEAST I can do."

"Arigatou, Nabiki." Ukyou smiled and bent down to pick up her utensil.

Ratiko blushed and looked away.

"Something wrong, Rat?"

"What? I..."

"You haven't touched your okonomiyaki yet. They're not as good cold,

you know."

She was right.

Oh, well.

Since he'd PAID for it by... by... by WASHING DISHES, he might as well

try one.

And it WAS his great-grandmother's cooking, after all.

And it WAS his great-grandmother that he'd been...

He blushed again, a deeper red this time, and tried to break off a

piece of the tako-tama-yaki*. It burnt to a crisp on contact.

[*tako-tama-yaki = An okonomiyaki with egg and octopus]

"Maybe you'd better calm down BEFORE digging in. Ki and cookery don't

mix."

"H... Hai."

Reiraku closed his eyes and breathed deeply. In a few seconds, the

glow was gone.

He poked the disc of batter tentatively and was relieved to find that

all it did was sink slightly under his touch.

[They weren't kidding about great-grandma's cooking,] he thought as he

munched on the delicacy. [This has gotta be the best I've had...]

There were a few moments of silence, in which all the two women did

was watch him eat.

"Thinking about something?" asked Nabiki.

"Well... Actually..." Actually, a LOT of things. Like how he was able

to speak to her in a half-rational tone, after what he'd been TRAINED to

think, after everything obaasan had TAUGHT him to feel...

"Go on."

"Mostly about YOU. You're..."

His date put up her hand.

"If you're going to go on again about how I'm supposed to kill Kasumi

and blow up the doujou, forget it. I don't know what world YOU'RE coming

from, Ratty-baby, but it sure as heck ain't this one."

"But... That's what I'm trying to SAY!" Ratiko scratched the back of

his head. "You're not exactly what I expected."

"Oh?" Nabiki arched an eyebrow, and took a bite of her own ebi-ten.

"I always expected Perdita would have fangs to suck blood with, and

big claws, and red glowing eyes..."

Far from red, her eyes seemed to twinkle.

It was a minute before she had the laughter enough under control to

speak again.

"Funny a HIBIKI should be worried about fangs..." She grinned, then

added, "Then again, he's also got Kuonji in him..." Ukyou simply started

another okonomiyaki on the griddle and pretended not to hear. "And as you

can see..." She leaned closer to him. "My eyes AREN'T red." Ratiko

couldn't help BUT to see that. Her pupils were directly in front of his

own. "And my fingernails..." She raised her hands and brought them to his

face, "are no longer than yours." Nabiki ran an index finger down his

cheek.

Reiraku gulped, and turned crimson.

"I.. Er... Ah..."

"And I'm not bloodthirsty... Not QUITE..."

"Nani?!"

"I'm thirsty for something ELSE..." Moving her face a few millimetres

closer to his own was all that was needed to cause his weak capillaries to

burst again. "Ukyou, think you could bring me some red wine?"

Ratiko face-faulted.

Perdita merely laughed and handed him a facial tissue from her purse,

with which he cleaned his face before adding it to the already-large pile

beside him.

"Here you go," said the proprietress cheerfully, as she set down the

bottle and two glasses on their table.

Nabiki filled them to the rim and raised hers up.

"A toast," she said, "to the golden future which your information

combined with my financial expertise is going to make possible." She

tossed back her hair and prepared to down the beverage.

Her companion didn't move.

"I... I don't drink," he explained.

"What?"

"I never have. It's just not my type of thing."

After looking startled for a second, Nabiki put down her glass and

acquired 'the look'. Reiraku had learned to fear it in a Kurenai, and on

his bogeyman's visage it looked many times worse.

Someone was in for it, and he had the feeling it was him.

"You MUST toast," said Perdita. "Isn't that SO, Ukyou." The cook

smiled and nodded.

"I'm sorry... Maybe some water?"

"Some COLD water, perhaps?" Nabiki smirked.

"Very funny."

"You'll have the wine."

"But..."

"No buts." She pulled the test tube from her bosom and waved it for a

bit before setting it down under her. "I may not DRINK blood, but there's

many other things I can do with it."

"Haven't you given him ENOUGH nosebleeds, Nabiki?" Ukyou giggled.

"Not yet... But that's NOT what I had in mind..."

"Oh? What were you thinking of, then?"

"Should I tell her, Rat?"

Reiraku paled.

"No! WAIT!" He reached for the bottle. "I'll toast! I'll drink! Just

don't do it!"

"I'm so glad you..." Before she could finish, Ratiko had chugged

half the bottle. "...came to your senses."

"This ishn't as bad as I thought it would be..." he said, somewhat

woozily, after a few minutes.

Then, he drank the other half.

Ranma sat cross-legged and looked outside at the rain falling into the

doujou garden. It was dropping as quickly as his spirits. Why couldn't he

just learn to shut his mouth? EVERY time he opened it, something like this

would happen. And now Akane, and... and MIYABI...

Genma slapped an arm around him.

"Ranma, son, your happiness is assured!"

"Yeah, right." Just what he needed. Bad enough without Pops turnin'

into Mister Ecstasy.

"You have a bright future ahead of you." Soun's arm, from the other

direction.

"I must be wearin' sunglasses."

"Your daughter loves you!"

"She hates me."

"She doesn't like how you don't love Akane, Ranma," said Kasumi,

taking a break from washing dishes.

"Huh?"

"Well, you ARE her father, Ranma," she explained with a smile. "She's

just upset at seeing you two fight. Maybe if you two were together in a

more..."

"That's IT, Tendou-kun!" Genma slammed fist against palm.

"What is it, Saotome?"

"We MUST help our grand-daughter." He turned to his son. "Ranma,

tonight you and Akane will sleep together."

"Now WAIT A MINUTE!"

"For Miyabi's sake!" shouted Soun, clutching his future son-in-law

and pouring tears onto the ground.

"YOU CAN'T EXPECT ME TO..."

"Oh, my!"

"Son, listen to me. You and Akane are engaged, and Miyabi is proof

that you love each other enough to..."

"I get the picture, pop." Oh, he got it all right. A nice little

portrait of the old man as a panda bein' sent to the Tokyo zoo. "But there

ain't NO WAY I'm sleepin' with HER!"

"Father," said Kasumi. "I think they're still a bit young to..."

Ryouga stood from where he'd been reclining against the wall.

"Maybe you're just not MAN enough for it, Ranma?"

"Who're YOU to talk? When we get down to it that way, think she'd

settle for YOU?"

Ryouga paused for a moment after the statement, then his face twisted

itself into an inhuman shape. His mouth tightened into a straight line,

and his eyes assumed a cold, determined look as he took slow steps towards

the martial artist.

"There is ONE question," he said, "which I must ask you before I will

hear any more of your ill-treatment of Akane."

"Well?"

Ryouga winced and briefly put a hand to his stomach.

"Where is the washroom?"

Ranma face-faulted, then laughed.

"Ooooo... P-Chan have to go potty?"

"It's NOT FUNNY!"

"Been eatin' Akane's cookin' again, haven't ya?"

"NO! It's..."

"Oh, my! I hope it wasn't my dinner."

"And DON'T CALL ME P-CHAN!"

The eternal lost boy raised his umbrella, but stopped in mid-swing to

clutch his abdomen.

"I... I..."

Kasumi pointed the way to the bathroom.

"It's THAT way, Hibiki-san."

"Thank you, Kasu... *urk*" Not waiting any longer, the boy became a

blur of yellow as he bolted. In the wrong direction.

"You IDIOT! The bathroom's THAT..." Ranma was too late.

"Oh, well. I guess he'll find a bush, or something."

"Now, about me an' Akane..."

From just outside the doujou, an all-too familiar voice yelled

out:

"Saotome, thou cur! I have come to avenge those women whom you have

defiled in your depravity, and most especially the most beautified Akane

Tendou!"

"That's an ill phrase," muttered Genma to himself. "Beautified is a

vile phrase..."

Fantastic. NOW he had a ticked off Bokken-boy to deal with.

"Aww... I don't have time ta listen ta this. Kasumi, go tell 'im to

leave, will ya?"

"Are you sure, Ranma? He seems awfully interested in seeing you."

"I'm kinda busy right now."

Kasumi shrugged and walked to the front door. She opened it slightly,

spoke a few brief words, then walked back.

"Well?"

"I told him you didn't want to see him."

"And?"

"He..."

"YOU COWARDLY CORRUPTER OF THE FAIR SEX! LET ME IN, OR I SHALL BE

FORCED TO HUFF, AND PUFF, AND TURN THIS DOOR TO SPLINTERS WITH MINE OWN

TWO HANDS!"

"Huff an' puff an' blow the house down?" Ranma smirked. "If 'e's

lookin' for a little pig, Kunou's about a minute too late."

"What shall we do?" asked Kasumi.

"He'll demolish the doujou!" shouted Soun.

"Nah. He's too 'honourable' for that. Just let 'im be. At worst we'll

have ta listen to his shoutin' 'til he gets tired of gettin' wet. 'Sides,

I've gotta get ready for tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?" Genma scratched his chin. "What's going on tomorrow?"

"Isn't it obvious, Saotome? He's planned the WEDDING for then!"

Those guys NEVER gave up.

"Now, look here!" he told them, waving his finger. "I ain't marryin'

that tomboy!" A pause. "Well, not YET, anyway. I just thought I'd..."

Ranma blushed, and twiddled his fingers.

"That's best done AFTER marriage, Ranma," chided Kasumi gently.

"If you are THAT eager for... Well..." It was her turn to colour. "Perhaps

it's best to get the ceremony over with..."

"What did I do to deserve this? All I'm gonna do is visit my MOTHER!"

That last sentence echoed through the doujou, the only other sound

being that of a dish breaking as it fell from Kasumi's hands.

"Son," said Genma gravely, his face a pasty-white, sweat-covered board

of anxiety, "Tell me that this is a joke."

"I'm not foolin', pop!"

"I know it's been a bit hard for you lately, but that's no reason to

commit suicide."

"Who's committin' suicide?!"

"You think that you can pass as a MANLY man? In THIS weather?"

Soun jumped in.

"He has a point, Ranma. It will not help your engagement to Akane to

have a katana at your throat."

"Look, you two. Miyabi already spoke to mum, an'..."

"Your daughter has spoken to Nodoka?" The sweat was now dripping from

Genma's head onto the floor.

"Yeah! An' mum was all happy 'bout how I could've had a child with

that macho chick when I'm not even an adult, an'..."

"And?"

"Well, she agreed that that was proof that I was man enough for her.

So, I'm visitin' her tomorrow."

"You IDIOT!" Genma grabbed his son by the shoulders and shook him.

"Do you realise what you've DONE?!"

"What?"

"How old is Miyabi?"

"About sixteen, I guess."

"How old are YOU?!"

"I'm... Uh-oh..."

"What do you think will happen when she finally puts it all

together? Eh?"

This was bad, thought Ranma. This was VERY bad. He already KNEW how

much an obsession his mother had with honour. If she thought that they'd

lied to her, and about the VOW, even...

"Answer me, boy!"

"I... uh..." [Change of plans] "Maybe I WON'T visit her, after all."

[Let's just hope she doesn't visit ME.]

Everyone visibly relaxed, and Kasumi finished putting the ceramic

shards into the trash can. All would be well. He hoped. So, he wouldn't be

able to see his mum as a guy. No big deal. It's not like he'd been able to

BEFORE. All he had to deal with NOW was that daughter of his... Which

reminded him...

"Say, hasn't Kunou been awful quiet?"

"...WITH MINE OWN TWO HANDS!"

[I wonder what ELSE he can do with his own two hands..] thought

Childra to herself as she walked up to the doujou. It'd been a rough few

hours. She was wet, she was cold, and she was lonely. Saotome and the

locket were off deity-knew-where, she'd gotten a geriatric dwarf stuck on

her chest, and the only young male she'd had a chance with so far had

tried to kill her, then bolted. [Mind you, I wouldn't MIND being punished

by Ishido... Under the proper circumstances, of course. Oh, well.] She

shrugged. [If I can't have 'Lobis', the big bad wolf will have to do.]

Smiling, Jansen wrung her hair and plastered her wet shirt against her

skin, using every trick she knew to enhance her appearance. It wouldn't

do, after all, to be anything but utterly ravishing when she approached

the 'Global Saviour'.

[Just wait 'til Zannen hears about THIS...]

"Is something WRONG, Tatewaki?" She walked up to him, as he continued

to pound ineffectively on the front door.

"Who dares to address the Blue Thunder in such a tone, when he is...

Ah... Anou..." Childra grinned. The wet shirt had worked, all right.

Just as soon as the poor boy had turned around...

"What seems to be the problem, lad?" Here she used the 'cat-tongue' to

smooth her speech, a technique quite different from its Joketsuzoku

counterpart.

"I have come to avenge the defiling of the wondrous Tendou Akane by

the Sorcerer Saotome!"

"Oh, really? How noble of you." She looked at the door. "They won't

let you in?" She grinned and ran a finger down his cheek. "How... How

NASTY of them to leave out in the rain like this..." Her index finger

moved from his face to her lips, and she licked off the water that she'd

gathered, while Kunou looked on shocked.

"Who... What art thou?"

"Just someone who..." Childra pressed against him. "WOULD open up for

you."

For a minute, she thought she'd gotten the wrong man when the Kunou

turned as red as a Hibiki. Only for a minute, though. Then, he raised his

bokken above his head and shouted:

"Away! Away, foul demoness! Back to the hellfire from whence you have

sprung! Be rid of this plane, pollute it no more with your temptress's

form, for I know you to be a succubus sent by the black wizard to distract

me from my true goal!"

"And..." She stopped his wooden sword and whispered in his ear, "That

would be a BAD thing?"

[Touche] Tatewaki relaxed, and even began to quiver slightly. Not a

monk, YET [If EVER, in this reality], but she was willing to bet he was

just as pure here as in her own time. Guys like this didn't usually get

picked up, and with good reason. For the novelty, though, she was willing

to go through with it.

Kunou slowly regained his composure and nonchalantly brushed her knee

from where she'd placed it in between his thighs.

"I..." He cleared his throat. "I would allow you to..."

Behind her. A noise.

[Saotome?]

"Just a second, hon."

"But... I..."

[The Blue Thunder, Poet Laureate, at a loss for words? I must have

made quite an impression. Maybe I wasn't the ONLY one whose spirits were

'lifted'. Now, to find...]

"Ishido?"

His violet eyes me hers briefly, and she could swear that she saw a

film of water forming over them, but before she could be certain, he

turned his face from her and once again prepared to run away.

[I'm not letting him get away NOW.]

Childra shoved Kunou back and jumped to Lobishomem's side, using her

bo to trip him flat onto the ground, face-first.

She immobilised him with a knee on his back and took his head in her

hand.

"You've got quite a bit of explaining to do, lad."

Ishido tried to turn his head the other way, but she forced him to

look at her.

[For someone who fought like THAT, he sure seems meek, now.]

"I'm... I'm sorry... I..."

"'Sorry' doesn't cut it. Why did you attack me? Is... Is THAT why you

followed me? To..."

[He CAN'T be after the locket. Can he?]

"I didn't attack you!" he growled. "Don't you see? I.."

"Excuse my interference, but I do believe that thou hast forgotten

thine promise of an 'opening'..."

"Quiet, Kunou. We're busy." Then, to Ishido. "You were saying?"

"It's my PROGRAMMING. I can't help it. Seeing Happousai attached to

you just..."

[HAPPOUSAI?! Then THAT'S who Akane... Oh, deity.]

"It made me lose control," he continued. "I didn't want to see you

hurt. Not like that. Not... Not by HIM."

"Didn't want to see me hurt, eh? I suppose THAT explains why you

shoved a fist at my face?"

She pressed harder on his back.

"But... I STOPPED myself! I had to leave you. I'm too dangerous.

Too... I don't even KNOW myself. How could I drag you into it?"

He'd INTENTIONALLY let off? She hadn't scared him away? And the reason

that he was so easy to handle NOW was that...

Childra's vision blurred as her pupils were covered by a layer of

tears.

"Oh, Ishido..."

The two looked at each other as the rain fell noisily about them, each

evaluating the situation.

So many men she'd seen, so many men she'd felt, had shared her life

and bed with, and only in a foreign world to find one who cared for her,

who wanted to PROTECT her, and even REFUSED her other gifts when she had

offered them...

Why now?

Why HERE, of all places?

They had to talk. A lot.

"I'm hungry," she lied. "How 'bout some dinner?"

"Nani?!"

"I hear Ucchan's is good. Feel like okonomiyaki?"

Ishido pointed at the Blue Thunder, who was still staring at the pair

in what seemed to be a state of utter confusion.

"What about HIM? I thought you two..."

"Kunou can wait. My... Er... My STOMACH can't."

"I don't have any money."

"I'll pay."

"You have cash? I thought you were from the future..."

"I have my ways." She winked at him.

Ishido blinked, looking somewhat sceptical.

"Are you sure she's that type of girl?"

Childra laughed and poked him on the nose.

"Hentai. I'm paying in CURRENCY."

"Ah."

The two stood still for another minute.

"Well?" asked Jansen. "What are you waiting for?"

"Could you... Could you get off my back?"

"Oh." Childra blushed, stood up, and squeezed the excess water from

her clothes. Searching around her jacket pockets, she found a pen and

notepad and scribbled on a sheet while Ishido raised himself from the

ground and tested his joints.

Once finished, she slipped the note into a still-immobile Kunou's

robe, saying,

"Would you please give this to someone in the doujou for me? Your

sister and some pervert are knocked out, and need medical attention."

Kunou nodded. "Oh, yes," she added, "You might want to see the doc, as

well. Looks like you'll be coming down with pneumonia."

Another nod.

Her conscience cleared, she placed her hand in Ishido's own and

started off towards the okonomiyaki-ya.

"Whaddya mean, I *DESTROY NERIMA*?!"

The first sight facing Childra and Ishido as they entered Ucchan's was

that of a girl in her late teens with flowing brown hair in a battle

crouch, pointing a four-foot-long pancake-flipper at someone hidden by a

bamboo screen.

Not that that obscured the spatulee's identity, of course. THAT fact

was obvious to any time-traveller with ears.

"Ishido? I think Ratiko found his way here before us."

"That must be a first for him," mumbled 'Lobis', his mind elsewhere.

"Customers!" The metallic weapon fell to the ground with a clang, and

Ukyou rushed to meet the newcomers, smoothing her clothes and arranging

her hair.

"Can I help you?"

Childra unzipped her jacket. No need to be all covered up, now that

they were inside. Besides, it felt so... tight.

"Table for two, please."

Ratiko's great-grandmother (this HAD to be her. The outfit, the

weaponry... Besides, he had her eyes) was looking a lot less comfortable

than she had been a minute ago.

"Childra?" asked Ishido, looking at the proprietress nervously.

"Maybe we'd better go to that other place, the Neko-"

Jansen shushed him. Something odd was going on. The girl's eyes had

widened, her jaw had dropped a few inches, and she was pointing a shaky

finger at Childra's chest.

"That's... That's..."

Ah. Of course.

"THAT'S all mine, dear."

Ishido scratched his head and looked at his companion.

"I thought you said she wasn't that type of girl..."

Childra shrugged.

Ukyou glared.

"I MEANT THE BANDOLIER, YOU JACKASS!"

"The bandolier?" Jansen blinked.

"That thing you have across your..." Kuonji frowned. "Across your

CHEST. The wrong way, too."

"What about it?"

"Where did you get it?"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you, dear. Why do you want to

know?"

"It's mine."

Ishido cleared his throat.

"I... I seriously doubt that."

"Then explain THIS!" Ukyou sprang behind her counter and returned with

something made out of leather. She stretched out her package.

"They're... They're IDENTICAL!"

"I KNOW they are. That's why I'm asking you where the heck you got

yours! It's even got my markings on it!"

[This thing's Kuonji's? That means Sable must be... Hmm...

Interesting...]

"Am I correct in thinking that Hibiki Ratiko is behind that screen?"

Ukyou looked startled.

"Hai. But... how did you know?"

Jansen lowered her voice to a whisper.

"I'm sorry. I can't let him know we're here."

"Why no..." Ishido began to ask, but was quieted when Childra poked

him in the ribs.

"I think we'll be going to the Nekohanten, after all. Good night."

"No! Wait! If it's his HEARING anything you're worried about, I

wouldn't be too concerned. Just stay. Please. I need to know about...

you know... I mean, if you know about HIM, then..."

"What do you mean, 'I shouldn't be concerned'?"

Ukyou grinned.

"He's drunk," she giggled.

"A HIBIKI is drunk?"

"Hai."

"In here?"

"Uh-huh." She nodded her head.

"How... How did this happen?"

"He came in on a date with Nabiki, and..."

This couldn't be right.

Childra shook her head, trying to get the water out of her ears. A

*HIBIKI* was _dating_ Tendou _Nabiki_?

"I'm sorry," she asked. "Could you say that again? I didn't quite

catch it."

"She said," explained Ishido, "that Ratiko came here on a date with a

'Nabiki'. She must have gotten him to drink."

"That I did."

Nabiki stepped out from behind the screen.

Great. Just what she needed. If this Nabiki was ANYTHING like the one

she knew about... She had to be careful what she said around her, or she

might be blackmailed into giving away information about the locket.

"How much did you hear?"

"Enough to know you're from 2096," Nabiki answered coolly, then

pointed at Childra's chest. "And to learn that you probably know quite a

bit about dear Ucchan's future."

"If you've spoken to Rat, then you know our future's nothing like

yours. The Kuonji Ukyou I know," [Never mind that she's HIBIKI Ukyou,

where I come from] "is probably nothing LIKE this one."

"We've heard the 'destroy Nerima' bit already, AND the story where I'm

supposed to be the bogeyman. Bat-boy's somewhat 'loose' with his tongue

after a bottle of wine."

[Bat-boy?] If she'd managed to get THAT out of him, she was a better

interrogator than Childra had given her credit for.

"How drunk is he?"

"Let me put it this way. Right now, he's whispering lewd comments to

an invisible friend of his, called 'Opim'. Quite amusing, actually."

At this, Childra couldn't help but giggle, and even the stoic Ishido

cracked a smile.

The way things stood, there didn't seem to be much harm in their

staying. Even if she DID blab more than she intended, little of it applied

to this here-and-now, and if Rat was REALLY too conked out to listen...

That, in itself, offered almost UNLIMITED entertainment possibilities.

"I guess we'll stay," she smiled.

Ryo opened his eyes slowly. His head was throbbing, and his eyes

hurt, mostly because of the bright light. He couldn't see anything at

all.

[What happened?] he wondered, as he rubbed the back of his head.

[Where am I?] But for the swirling of the wind around him, he felt

nothing.

As his vision cleared, he saw he was free-floating in coils of blue

energy, with him at the centre. There was nothing else. Then suddenly

a flicker of light appeared before him. He strained to reach forward, and

the flickering became a glow, the shape of a small heart-shaped locket.

[THE LOCKET!] Ryo struggled to grab it, but the locket was

swirling around in the currents of the energy around him, always barely

out of reach, above him, below him, around him. [No... please... I've

gotta...] In desperation, he lunged out, and a burning sensation hit his

hand. He stared in horror as he saw a blue flame burning in his palm, and

the distinct colour of metallic silver on a locket, melting into it.

"NO!" He tried to remove the locket, tried desperately to shake it

off, even as it bonded to his flesh, becoming a _part_ of him.

[I DON'T WANT IT! NOT LIKE THIS! NOOO! ]

The blue eddies sped up violently, becoming a solid, bright sphere of

blue around him - suddenly Ryo found himself in a sidewalk... by a

reservoir, and a tall metal fence... in a nice suburb.

In Nerima.

His Nerima.

"Ryo? Where've you been!?"

"Saotome! We thought you had been taken away by that barbarian woman!"

Ryo blinked, his eyes adjusting to the natural sunlight. "Godai?

Tachi?.. is that you?"

"Yeah, it's us." Godai glanced at Ryo with a questioning look.

"Are you... feeling well, Ryo?" asked Tachi.

"I'M BACK!" Startled, Ryo looked at the palm of his hand. It was

empty, unscathed. No locket. NO LOCKET. Ryo felt himself soaring with

elation. [I'm free! I'm free!]

"What happened to you? You disappeared chasing after that crazy

Chinese girl."

"I'll tell you later, okay? Right now... where's Bell-chan? I just

really need to see her Right Now."

"What's the emergency?"

Ryo smiled. "I... just miss her. Come on, let's go!" Grinning and

laughing, he sprinted to Bell-chan's, his heart soaring.

"Ryo-kun! Wait up!" Godai and Tachi chased him, not far behind, into

the sunset.

[There's so much I want to tell you, but... I... I CAN'T!]

How could she put it into words? What she felt wasn't... It wasn't

something you could go up and _say_ to someone, especially someone you'd

just met, and...

Childra felt ridiculous. Here she was, a proudly promiscuous woman in

her twenties, feeling as jittery as a teenage virgin on prom night. And

she wasn't even DOING anything. Just... staring...

She was looking at him eating his okonomiyaki, tearing off the pieces

and moving away his dark brown hair when it got in his eyes... She just

wanted to HOLD him, to grab him and let him know just what he'd done.

And, for the first time, she couldn't.

Why not? Seldom did she sleep alone, after all. When she saw a man she

liked...

This was more than 'like'.

All THOSE were... hollow, somehow. The others filled her physically,

made her feel alive, made her sense her heart beating against her chest by

the weight of their own bodies upon hers.

This one didn't. In fact, he had the opposite effect.

Being with Ishido, she felt all solidity taken from her soul.

She felt light, and empty, and knew that she could be complete only by the

addition of one thing, one being. HIM.

Why, then, didn't she reach out, press herself against him, FORCE him

to acknowledge she existed as MORE than an embarrassment, as MORE than one

to whom he owed a debt of honour?

That, too, was answered, though Jansen hesitated to admit it.

She'd tried, before (or was it since? The problems that arose with

travelling through time...), but 'Lobis' was just not the kind to quickly

become 'physical'. Even if he WERE, she doubted that she could muster up

the strength to approach him in... in THAT way, before he knew, before she

told him...

She now felt that her life before this had been wasted, that she'd

spent her years in idle nonsense, ignorant of all that TRULY mattered. It

didn't seem so at the time, but now... This was all so confusing.

She toyed with her ebi-ten.

"Ishido, I..."

The violet eyes looked up, strands of blue-black hair falling before

them.

"Yes?"

A panic. A sudden urge to run. Anywhere; away, somewhere where her

old rules, her old values, her old LIFE still applied.

"I... You..."

The great romancer, tongue-tied and bound in a predicament from which

there was but one escape.

The wolf looked down again.

[No!] she cried inside. [You have to see me! NOTICE me; don't... don't

dismiss me...] She NEEDED to feel hunted, WANTED that predatorial gaze

upon her. Even... Even if he looked at her the way he had during that

fight... Even THAT would be better than rejection.

Rejection... She never thought she'd have to use that word, or that

she'd feel its hammering so strongly on her soul.

"If it's about the incident," he spoke softly and slowly, carefully

avoiding her all the while, "I'm very sorry. It was beyond my control.

Maybe... Maybe I'd better leave you all... You, the Ryos and the

others... With MY memory, this world's as good as any other, maybe even

BETTER, and if I stay, I'll only hurt someone again..."

Was he crying?

"No! I... I WANT you to stay."

He raised his face slowly, and she could see...

He WAS crying.

"Please stay," she told him. "For ME... I WANT you to."

"But... Childra..."

She closed and opened her hand under the table, buying time while she

made a choice.

Odd, that to decide whether to make a single, simple movement should

matter so much NOW, when just an hour back she'd been upon him in the

mud...

[I'll do it.]

Tremulously, cautiously, she lifted her hand, and slid it across the

table to meet Ishido's arm. Her heart beat hard against her sternum, and

the blood within her jumped and danced, boiling in a heat more intense

than a desert sun.

Her fingers touched the brown cloth of his shirt, and that

electrifying contact loosed her tongue, allowing her to say,

"I NEED you to, Ishido."

None of the eloquent speeches she'd used before, none of the vows, the

flowery images of carp and stars, none of the everlasting promises of love

she'd freely given out had ever caused her so much grief.

This was a grief she'd willingly put up with.

If HE would.

Time was passing, and her life, and there was no way to get it back.

To TURN it back was simple; she could travel through time, and with the

locket, through realities, but to RECAPTURE it, REMOLD it, was not a thing

within her grasp.

She'd reached a turning point, and did not know which way the door

would swing.

One path brought something she thought she would never find.

Stability. The other...

If it was the other she was destined for, she might as well apply to

register as a Hibiki. Depression and loneliness would then be her lot.

[Respond, Ishido. PLEASE...]

'Lobishomem' blushed, and stammered as he tried to speak.

"I... I'm..."

[YES?]

"I'll stay," he finished. "If... If you're sure you don't mind..."

Mind? MIND?

Right now, her _mind_ was not quite operative, overflowed with

buoyant feelings and with... with what?

She was shaking, and she knew that he could see it, but she didn't

care.

He'd STAY!

Now, more than ever she longed to jump up, run and hug him, grasp him,

and not let him go, to let him know that somehow, he was now a PART of

her, that if he EVER left she would be incomplete.

Yet, she restrained herself.

'Twas best to wait, and bide her time.

"Of COURSE I don't mind, Lobis."

She smiled. Not a lustful smile, not a crafted one, nor a smile meant

to accomplish anything, but for the first time, an expression of pure joy.

And then, she cried.

Ratiko laughed hysterically.

"You SEE, Opim? Everything's upside-down... The monsters are pretty,

the dead are alive... Hey! Even my okonomiyaki is topsy-turvy!"

As Ukyou watched, giggling, Reiraku took his tako-tama-yaki and

flipped it. Squinting at it for a bit, and apparently realising that it

STILL wasn't quite right, he shrugged and plastered his face in the food.

"Now it's all over my nose!" He shouted. "And my cheeks!" He looked

up, suddenly serious. "Not that it matters." His eyes widened. "I'll be

gone, soon, and then NO ONE will be able to see it!"

Reiraku grabbed the 'yaki, and punched eyeholes in it, wearing it as a

mask.

"Whee!" he cried. "Whee!"

The baked-octopus-face turned to look at Kuonji.

It stared.

Ukyou stared back.

"A girl who can make such wonderful masks," said Reiraku slowly, "is

surely a great treasure."

[Mental note,] thought Ukyou, giggling. [Do not allow Ryouga to EVER

get near alcohol. EVER.]

"Don't you think so, Opim?"

Ratiko stared into empty space for a few seconds, as if listening to

someone. A few frowns, a cock of the head or two, then a final, reluctant

nod.

"Opim," he explained to the others, "says he prefers the CHEST

to the treasure. I would have to agree."

Ukyou coloured. She was sure that she could see a wolfish grin, even

under the fried batter.

"Now, Ratty-baby, tell us again WHY we can't see this Opim?"

[Thanks, Nabiki. Anything to get him off THAT train of thought.]

Ratiko cackled and threw his hands up, letting his food fall to the

ground.

[Great. ANOTHER mess to clean up.]

"He's my Polly!" the boy shouted.

"A parrot?"

"A bat, because I washed my hair today."

"Huh?"

"Ohohohohohohohohohohohohohoh!"

He'd mentioned Asuka in his lineage, but right now Kodachi seemed like

a more likely candidate.

"Your... hair... looks nice..." Ukyou felt she HAD to say _something_.

"And clean. But what does that have to do with..."

"Why, thank-you!" Ratiko struck a model's pose and froze, shaking his

head and muttering to himself for a few seconds like a man half-mad. At

length he closed his eyes. When he opened them again, they had a

different glint to them. Not a cold or harsh one, like Nabiki's, noted

Ukyou, nor the light of righteous sorrow that shone always on Ryouga's

face, but definitely one she had seen before. Maybe it was -

"The rest of me's great as well," hissed Ratiko.

[Uh-oh...] He was staring at her. And it WASN'T at her FACE.

"Ucchan, I think your great-grandson is..."

Nabiki didn't have to complete the sentence. Ratiko was walking

towards her, his soiled face sporting an unnatural grin.

"At least," he chuckled, "At least NOW I know where I get my good

looks from. You're quite the beauty, ancestress."

This was getting scary. She'd seen people change after a few drinks,

but this...

"Th... Thanks..." Great-grandson or not, if that jerk thought he was

going to get a FINGER on her... Ukyou looked around her, considering her

offensive options. If she could slide her foot under the handle of her

large spatula...

"And it doesn't look like you and Ryouga are going to be getting

together anytime soon..." A brief flicker of black. "That does not bode

well for me. Then again..."

[He CAN'T be thinking that. He CAN'T!] She thought he was going to

grab at her, but was he actually thinking of... of...

"If you want something done, you have to do it YOURSELF!"

"What?!" Nabiki herself tensed, this time. She'd been laughing at him

before, but this looked serious...

"I *must* exist, no matter what, and if all it takes is for a Hibiki

and a Kuonji to..."

"You're not Ryouga!"

"It's my only chance, now... I must..." Nabiki prepared to smash

her plate over his head, but Ukyou signalled her 'no'. She had the right

pivot position, her hands were in place... If he could only move forward a

few steps...

"Besides," her descendant continued, "You know what they say..." He

moved his right leg forward a few inches, steadying himself. [The wine

must've REALLY gotten to him...] "Vice is nice..." Now the left. "Incest

is best..." [Come on! Just a little bit more!] "Put great-granny to the

test!" Just as she'd hoped, he lunged towards her.

With one swift kick, she sent the large spatula's handle straight into

her waiting hand, and swung it fluidly to have the broad endplate connect

with Reiraku's head.

"I guess I passed," said Ukyou, letting out a deep breath. If she

hadn't gotten him just then, he might have... he might have... Not for

long, but STILL! To think that her great-grandson...

"And HE passed OUT..." Nabiki shook her head. "Ratty-baby, you're just

as bad as Kunou..." She stretched out and yawned. "Well, Kuonji, I think

it's time to go 'night-night."

Ukyou blinked.

"What?"

"I'm tired, and it looks like your great-grandson won't be waking up

soon. You _do_ still have that room in the back, right?"

"Well... Yes, Nabiki, but..."

"Great. Rat and I will need it for tonight."

"NANI?! You.. You aren't seriously thinking of..." How could she

be? After what she'd just seen...

"Don't worry about it. I'll take the rental off your bill."

"Nabiki, have you gone CRAZY?! You've already seen what... what...

what a PERVERT this guy is!" She kicked Reiraku in the shins, eliciting

only a small grunt from the unconscious heap. "And with that ki thing of

his..."

"Trust me." A sly smile. Trouble for SOMEONE. "I know what I'm doing."

"All right. Spit it out. What are you up to? You aren't exactly the

type of girl to go sleeping around with dangerous drunks." Pause. "BROKE

dangerous drunks."

"He's not broke... Not EXACTLY... Think of it this way, Kuonji. Rat's

already given me THIS much information about the future, right?"

She held up the notebook she'd filled.

"Y... Yeeees..."

"A future, he tells us, where MY investments end up becoming a

fortune."

"Hai."

"And he gave me THAT much info only because I threatened to tell on

him."

[Works for everyone ELSE you blackmail.]

"Now, he probably won't remember anything about tonight, since he's...

sloshed, to put it kindly. If he wakes up next to ME tomorrow morning..."

Ukyou's eyes went wide.

"You... You WOULDN'T!"

Nabiki grinned.

"I WOULD." She waved aside Kuonji's protests. "Not THAT way. I mean,

just TEASE him. Let him THINK something's happened... Besides, this

fellow's as bashful as Ryouga. Don't tell me YOU'VE never wanted to pull a

prank like that on him. The nosebleed, the stammer... He's just ASKING

for it."

"Well..." The chef blushed. She HAD thought about it, on more than one

occasion, but... Ukyou growled as she remembered what had almost

happened. "He's ASKING for it, all right. Nabiki, I'm calling the

police."

The Tendou girl smiled.

"To tell them about those okonomiyaki bombs you've been making? Or

the time you assaulted Hinako, when you thought she was hitting on Ranma?

She can still press charges, you know."

Ukyou blanched.

"You wouldn't..."

"Who do you think kept her from doing that in the first place? All I

have to do is stop a few payments, and-"

The okonomiyaki chef was silent for a moment, then spoke softly.

"Couldn't you... Go to the doujou?"

"With my FATHER there?"

"Good point."

"Besides, it's cramped enough with the panda and Ranma there, and now

that he's brought a DAUGHTER..."

Ukyou winced as the pain of that statement mixed with that of

Reiraku's attack. [AKANE'S daughter. But... I... I mustn't panic! He has

a son, too, right? And he's MINE! I have as much a chance as she does!]

Then again, there was another road that seemed even more certain, where

her line was doomed to end in... in...

She looked at the unconscious pervert on the floor, and scowled.

"Why are you doing this? What do you see in HIM? You know what he's

capable of! He's DANGEROUS! Are you sure you'll be safe?"

Nabiki winked.

"I'll keep a glass of water next to the bed, just in case. In fact..."

She took a nearby pitcher of water and tipped it over Ratiko. His body

trembled for a second, then shrank into a pile of clothes, and a bandanna-

clad fruit bat. "This'll make him easier to carry."

Ukyou giggled against her will. It was hard to keep a grudge against

a flying mouse.

In any case, she'd done what she could, and had been foiled at every

step. Anything that went wrong was now on Nabiki's head.

"There's a hot water tap in the bathroom," said Ukyou in a business-

like fashion. "You know where it is."

"Thanks," answered Nabiki curtly.

It might even be better this way. The cost of the interview WAS

putting quite a dent in her pocket, with the recent dearth of customers

[PAYING customers,] she reminded herself, thinking of Ranma and Genma.

Anything that lessened her expenses was worth it. And, who knew? Maybe

she'd uncover something worthwhile.

"If I'm going to put up with having THAT under my roof," she nodded

towards the bat, "Do you think you could find out..."

"About you and Ranma?"

"Well..." Ukyou shuffled her feet. "Yeah, I guess..."

The entrepreneuress sighed.

"I WOULD, but I'd have to charge you for it (setting a precedent and

all that), and I know you don't have that much. I'm ALREADY doing you a

favour by staying here and discounting the room rent from my fee... Though

it looks like *I'm* not the one who'll be dating Hibikis from now on."

[How can she be so cruel? To remind me of THAT...]

She looked at the bat, which dangled stunned from Nabiki's right thumb

and forefinger, and struggled against a sudden urge to strangle the

creature.

Was THAT what lay ahead? Was THAT to be the end product of her life?

Of the life of... She didn't even know if it was a son or a daughter she

would have with Ryouga.

[No! Wait! The future isn't set! Ranchan and I... We still can...]

There WAS Ryo. Yet... He seemed so shaky, and uncertain. If anything,

he was almost sure that HIS future wasn't HERS.

Meanwhile, even when Ratiko was babbling about things 'not being

right', even when drunk, he was confident, and stood by his belief that

the Kuonjis and Hibikis were FATED to be joined.

"Are you just going to stand there all day, or are you going to give

me a key to the room?"

"Oh." Ukyou rummaged through her pockets. "Here it is." The metal

trinket exchanged hands. [Must remember to lock my own door tonight.]

"Thanks. Don't wake us up."

"What about breakfast?"

Nabiki scratched her chin while she considered it.

"I suppose... Cook up something good, and I'll deduct THAT, as well.

Now, it's off to tease the Hibiki. G'night!"

Ukyou barely remembered to wave. She HAD to know more. But from who?

That woman with her bandolier. Surely SHE could tell her something.

ANYTHING, just to give her more hope. Just to give her SOME hope.

They should be almost done with dinner now. Perhaps she could coax

them with a little friendly conversation. She'd mentioned she was a

'historian'. Maybe an exchange?

Nabiki walked away, bat in one hand and clothes in the other. Ukyou

dusted herself off and went to offer her other customers (her ONLY other

customers) an after-dinner drink.

"Hi!" she said. "Enjoy your meal?" The woman looked at her, smiling,

and the other nodded gravely. "Would you like something else? Coffee? Tea?

Maybe some cake?" [I *think* there's still some cake in the store-

room...]

"No, that's all right." The blonde's eyes twinkled. It only made Ukyou

feel worse to see a couple that seemed so MATCHED. "Just the bill,

please."

"Sure... I..." As she reached for her note pad, she remembered

something. "Just a sec... You're from the future, right? Twenty ninety

six?"

"SHE is," said the man. "I don't know quite where I'm from."

He grinned, which made him look alarmingly like a wolf.

"Then... I..." [Let's see... They'd been here a day or two at most,

and Ratiko had to scrub pots.] "I don't suppose you have any... current

currency?"

She wasn't exactly Nabiki, but maybe she could arrange for an

exchange: food for information.

The woman arched an eyebrow in reply, smiled, and reached inside her

jacket. A moment later, Kuonji grabbed a shining something from the air,

as it was tossed towards her.

She opened her palm.

It was a coin.

A gold coin.

"Spanish doubloon, late sixteenth century," announced the historian.

"Any museum can verify it for you. Will that be enough?"

"I... don't have enough change for it." No kidding. If she sold the

debt-ridden okonomiyaki-ya, she MIGHT be able to give back the appropriate

amount.

"That's all right." Another smile, and a wink to her companion. "Keep

it."

Ukyou's jaw dropped, and even the stoic wolf looked startled.

"Thank you!" Now she could put up a new sign, maybe pay off the

loans...

What had she done to deserve this? She barely knew them, and [All I've

given them is okonomiyaki!] She HAD to find something she could offer in

return. She was no Kunou, but this went even against HER honour. Even

Nabiki wouldn't...

[That's it!]

"You two don't have a place for the night, do you?"

"Where WERE we going to stay, Childra?"

[So THAT'S her name...]

"I thought maybe we could go to the Tofu clinic." She arched an

eyebrow at the cook. "Do you know a better place? I don't have many more

of THOSE," she said, pointing at the doubloon, "so a hotel is out of the

question..." Childra grinned at her companion. "Unfortunately."

Her boyfriend blushed.

"Actually, I have a spare room..."

"Not the one with Rat in it, I hope."

"You... You HEARD?!"

"I'm not deaf, dear, and he's only mute." She poked the other in the

shoulder, eliciting a smile. "We were having a lot of fun watching you

all, but since you had it so well under control..."

"Ah. I see..."

"Besides, the boy could use a little... education. Those Hibikis tend

to be a bit inhibited, as you may well know."

Ukyou nodded. She KNEW, all right. It'd taken all her persuasion to

get Ryouga to go on a date with AKANE, for crying out loud. Even then,

she'd had to write the invitation herself. That shyness, though... If

the 'lost boy' DID overcome it enough to marry HER, that meant that..

[Change the subject. Stop that thought.]

She took a key out of her pocket, and put it on the table.

"I'm afraid it's just a single room, but I'm sure it's better than one

of Doctor Tofu's."

"Oh," said Childra, "I don't mind..."

From the way wolf-boy looked, Ukyou wasn't sure that he would say the

same. His face was beet-red, he was staring at his (empty) plate, and his

mouth kept opening and closing, without saying a word.

"Don't mind HIM," the blonde assured her, wrapping an arm around his

neck. "It'll be just PERFECT..."

Nabiki sucked on the cylinder, relishing its sweetness, drawing from

it all the juices that she could. When it seemed that she could take no

more, she stimulated it by pushing it in, and out, rhythmically massaging

it with her lips, ever so gently...

The stiff rod seemed to melt under the touch of her warm tongue,

dissolving into a sugary syrup of pure delight.

Even that was not enough to keep her entertained. She... needed...

more. Something with more intensity, with explosion...

Nabiki bit into it.

It shattered.

[Gosh, these lollipops are good. I wonder where Ukyou buys them?]

No matter. She'd find out in the morning. For now, she had... business

to take care of.

She swallowed the candy fragments, tossed the bare stick aside, and

took her camera out of her purse.

Now... What was left to be done?

[One future Hibiki in bat form... Check.]

[One glass of warm water... Check.]

[One camera... Check.]

And now, to put them all together... If half of what she'd heard was

right, compromising pictures of THIS boy could have her set for life.

At the very least, she could sell them to him. After all, surely he

didn't want his 'friends' knowing he'd slept with a 'monster'. THAT

would likely bring in another notebook's worth of extra information...

Failing that, he wasn't TOO shabby-looking. Asuka or Kodachi might

be willing to pay good, solid yen for pictures of him.

[Well, to work.]

She sprinkled the bat's left wing with the water and was only slightly

startled at the instant metamorphosis. Thankfully, it seemed that Ratiko

was still very drunk. He shouldn't be waking up for a few more hours, at

least...

Nabiki climbed onto the bed.

[Now, for just the riiiight... position.] She took her camera,

holding it gently and running her hand down the barrel of the lens,

feeling a certain thrill run through her spine. This was the action of

making money, getting her hooks in on a man, grabbing 'em by the

proverbial... well...

Nabiki bent down a little, off to Ratiko's left, hmmming as she

fingered the camera lens. [No, this isn't good enough.] She moved to his

right side, bent down lower, and grunted in dissatisfaction. [This isn't

right either.] She crawled onto the bed, gripping her camera a little

tighter, and squatted down by Ratiko's head. Nabiki lifted her camera to

her face, licking her lips, and lowered herself slowly, trying to find

the best spot for the photo. Unfortunately, that position quickly failed

to satisfy her, and she slowly made her way off the bed.

[What angle... what angle... got it.]

This would be perfect and needed only a LITTLE positioning. If she

tilted his chin up... [Like... THAT.] it looked like he was in ecstasy.

Move the arms to the sides, [Like so...] and it was the PERFECT position.

She saddled his legs right above his knees, and smiled. This was so

easy, it wasn't even funny. Well, okay. It WAS funny. She almost wished

that he would refuse to give her the data she wanted, so that she'd be

able to show these around. It would look, for all the world, like he and

she had been... and... and he'd wanted PICTURES to remember it by!

Nabiki stifled a giggle. Hibikis could certainly be entertaining.

Maybe she could STILL make him think that that was what had gone on...

"Smile for the camera, bat-boy..." she whispered, and looked through

the view-finder. Her gaze slowly went up his body, and she couldn't help

but start feeling a little warm herself. Nabiki's breathing quickened as

she fingered the camera button and slowly gripped the lens shaft, turning

it gently in her hand, bringing in Ratiko's image sharper and sharper,

and oh so much clearer. [Oh yes, yes, that's the spot, hold it steady...]

Nabiki thrust the camera button down, sighing in satisfaction, when...

*FLASH*

[Uh-oh... Deity... I forgot to turn that thing OFF...]

Ratiko's eyebrows bobbed up and down, and his nose twitched briefly

before he opened his brown eyes.

"I..."

[THAT groggy? I would've thought my see-through night-shirt would

have...]

"YOU..." The white orbs doubled in size.

[Oh.]

"WE..."

"Run out of pronouns yet, Ratty-baby?"

"D... Don't tell me we..."

Nabiki smiled. She'd gotten the picture... What harm could it do to

tease for a bit?

"Don't tell you what, Rat?"

"We... We didn't..."

"We WILL."

She leaned in closer and laughed with delight when she saw the trickle

of red working its way down the boy's neck.

"I... I mustn't fail obaasan!" he shouted.

"Don't tell me you're into geriatric incest..."

Was he? Nabiki made a mental shrug. In a world where Kunou was a

global saviour, anything was possible.

"I MUST BE STRONG!" he cried.

"Don't worry... I'm sure you will be..."

She winked, and he fainted.

[Oh, well... So much for the entertainment... At least it'll be

easier to get the rest of the roll, now...]

Childra locked the door to the room and stood before Ishido in the

blackness.

"Maybe we should turn on the light...," suggested Lobis.

"I like it dark." She grinned briefly, then her face became a tight

line. Somehow, her usual lines just didn't seem... right when used on him.

She wasn't lying, though. Now that they were together, alone,

encased by four walls and a window, she didn't want to be SEEN by him.

Not... Not yet... Not her body... Not before he saw...

[The REAL me.]

He had, already, she thought. Maybe that's why she felt so drawn to

him... He cared for her, and protected her even though he looked away

when she showed off... and they had barely touched hands, except at her

own insistence.

"You... You didn't have to do that, you know," Ishido said softly.

"The coin?"

"Hai."

Now, a real smile.

"I suppose YOU would have paid?"

"If I could have," he said wistfully, then suddenly, "Look! I...

You're..." The moon's rays shone upon him as he raised his arms in

frustration.

"Ishido..." She placed an arm on his shoulder. He tensed. "I know."

She did, and told him with the language she knew best; that of her

body.

She stroked his hair, to calm him down and let him feel that she

forgave him, even ADMIRED him for having fought for her, then fought his

programming to not cause her pain...

She looked into his eyes, and moved them into a blue-and-grey-lit

spot, so he could see her green ones and...

No. That's not right.

She had to be herself.

"Will you wait a moment, Lobis?"

"Childra, I..."

"Please."

He nodded. He didn't know why, but he trusted her. She liked

that.

Jansen stepped into a corner and took a small tube from her bandolier,

popping off the top. Two taps on her eyes, and the green contact lenses

fell into the palm of her hand, to be deposited in their container.

She screwed the lid back on and put the vessel back in its slot. He

deserved to know her as she truly was... As she so seldom let ANYONE see

her...

[Even myself?]

Smiling, she walked back to the gentle man.

"Your eyes... Brown..."

She hushed him, hissing softly and putting a finger over his lips.

"They're mine," she whispered. "And only for you."

Once again, his muscles contracted, and she repeated her massage,

going lower down the back, drumming her fingers into each saliency, until

she managed to relax him...

[Except in one vital part...]

She resisted the urge to proceed as she so often had before,

completing the technique. If anything was to happen, she promised herself,

it would not be because she forced it. Not this time. This had to be

natural, spontaneous...

"Childra, you..." He tried to turn away, but she forced his head back

gently.

"You always cut off your sentences when you're about to say what I

most want to hear..." Ishido's blush turned lilac in the moonlight.

"Finish it, dear... Please..."

"You..." He cleared his throat and closed his hands, gathering up

strength.

"Yes?"

Childra's heartbeat doubled in strength with each moment that passed,

and the blood pumped through her arteries like lightning.

"You mean a lot to me."

An explosion of warmth flooded through her, starting in the middle of

her chest, fountaining across her breasts, and cataracting down her

legs... She'd known, or she'd suspected, but he'd SAID it, he'd made it

CONCRETE, a reality...

An internal laugh. So many promises from so many men, so many undying

loves proclaimed, and now she was losing her mind over a, 'you mean a lot

to me'...

But THAT is because he meant it.

She knew he did.

She also knew that she WANTED it to be true, and she returned the

sentiment in the strongest way possible...

"I know it sounds silly," he continued. "I've only just met you,

and... with the locket I don't even know what's REAL anymore..."

"It's not silly."

She brushed her hand against his cheek. He shivered, and she with him.

"I can't offer you anything," he said softly. "I can't even say that I

haven't... that I haven't felt this way before... I just... I don't

know..."

"All that matters is what you've already said, Ishido..."

"I don't even know if I'm attached, or married, or..."

"It doesn't matter to me," she said. After all, it didn't. Once she

got the locket, they could go anywhere, to ANY reality... One where there

was no Onocorp, or none of... none of whoever had done these things to

him. They could start ANEW. A new present. A new future. And no past...

She could forget hers, and his own had been erased... "Does it matter to

YOU?"

"Not now."

Sweating and trembling, she grinned and pulled off her jacket.

"Childra, I don't think..."

"Good."

The bandolier went next. Quickly, before she could regret it.

"You shouldn't do this. I might..."

"I hope so."

He gulped.

She was serious. She needed to be with him, needed to feel him as a

part of her... and now that she KNEW...

Her heart was ready to burst, its pace alone making her breathless.

She took his hand, and overcame a slight resistance to guide it to her

chest.

"Let's not argue," she pleaded.

"I... I don't want to hurt you, and if we..."

"Finish your sentences, dear."

"If we... Ah..." The lilac turned a deeper purple, and he trembled.

"If we are together, then I might..."

"You might decide to stay with me?"

"Well..."

"I would like that."

She moved his palm to the middle of her chest and let him feel her

pulse, let him know how strong it was, how he had excited her, and made

her LIVE.

"Then, I suppose I..."

[Shyness becomes him.]

He gave in.

She moved backwards, never turning her back to him, and made her way

towards the bed, untying her neckerchief in the process.

He followed, hesitant for the first few seconds, but then with

confident (and eager?) steps...

He had seen her as she truly was, and had grown to like that. Now, it

was time for him to fully be with her, so that she could give herself, her

REAL self, for the first time.

She smiled and lay against the linen sheets, as they settled down to

finish what they had begun a hundred years from now.

Ukyou lay in bed, staring at the ceiling. Thoughts whizzed through

her head of their own volition, and she let them come and go as they

pleased.

[Me? With Ryouga? ...uh-uh, no way!]

That boy downstairs with Nabiki had scared her with his talk...and

that Childra woman had not helped allay her fears at all. Sure, now she

had money... [She sure was generous!], but she still didn't know what

the future held for her... or WHO.

"Darn it all!" she said aloud.

She tried to rest, letting her mind wander again, but it kept

returning to the same point...

Eventually fatigue overwhelmed her, as the events of the day, both

physical and mental [Taught that drunk Hibiki a lesson!], and she fell

into a deep sleep.

[I'm not going to marry Ryouga!]

Ukyou began to dream...

The kitchen was bright, sparkling with the lemon-scented shine of

clean cupboards and floor. Utensils, pots, and pans lined the walls,

neatly hung in place. Beneath the smell of Mr. Clean, there was the

unmistakable odour of okonomiyaki. None was cooking now, but this was

obviously a place that saw that dish often. Ukyou wandered to the

counter-top, feeling a security and safety she'd never known before. She

recognised the cooking implements that lined the walls... they were

hers... but whose was the kitchen in which they hung?

Deep peace filled her mind, and she strolled around the house,

trying to figure out where she was... not worried, but still curious.

She turned to her left, leaving the airy kitchen for a cosy living

area. There were pillows, chairs, a low table and a clean wooden floor

under her feet. [Whoever keeps house here is a very clean person!]

Ukyou thought, approvingly. Then something caught her eye.

In the corner of the room, tucked away neatly, was a bright

coloured box. It jarred slightly with the subtle colours of the room, but

it somehow made the place even more inviting... it was a child's toy box.

Ukyou wandered over and removed the lid.

Inside were cars, boats, trains, and blocks. Soft plush animals

jostled with rubber balls for space, and a jack-in-the-box squealed up at

her as she moved the toys around.

"Yeeeeeeeeehhhheeeehheeee!" the jack-in-the-box cried, bouncing

on its spring. Ukyou giggled and wondered absently if the owners of the

house would come to find her now, sitting in their living room, playing

with their son's toys...

[How did I know it was a boy?] She thought to herself. [There

could be dolls elsewhere, or maybe a girl who doesn't like dolls?]

But a part of her giggled again, and KNEW it was a boy.

Ukyou replaced the jack-in-the-box and stood up. She walked back

to the kitchen and saw with some strange satisfaction that the crayon

drawings on the fridge jarred with the kitchen as well as the toy box had

in the living room... [This is a house for a child, but it's also a house

for cleanliness and order.]

It occurred to her briefly that she herself wouldn't mind a house

like this... a faint voice in the back of her mind reminded her that with

Childra's coin, her debts would be gone, and she could begin to save...

[Who is Childra...?] The name was familiar, but unimportant for

now... there was more exploring to be done!

The okonomiyaki chef climbed up the stairs to the upper level and

noted with another happy surge of satisfaction that the little room

nearest the stairs definitely belonged to a small boy. Toys lay

scattered on the floor, picture books lined the shelves, and pants and

shirts seemed to have exploded from the chest of drawers. The bed was

made, but it had obviously suffered the attentions of a young

trampolinist, and the covers were in disarray.

Ukyou frowned wryly. "What a mess!" she said aloud, but she didn't

really feel the sentiment behind the words. This happy little room was a

haven, and a home to a little boy she found she wanted to know...

She quenched a sudden wave of belonging.

[Where did THAT come from? This is not my home!]

She moved past a small bathroom to the master bedroom.

Inside the bedroom the trampoline artist had struck again, sending

pillows onto the floor and dishevelling blankets. The rest of the room

was neat, and the closet was closed. Large windows claimed one wall, and

Ukyou walked over and gazed out.

A picturesque street, with cherry trees blossoming in the grass.

People wandered here and there in gardens or sat watching children play

outside. Ukyou wondered which child was the one whose toys she had

examined, but something inside her told her he wasn't within view.

Ukyou turned from the window and noticed for the first time the

pictures lined up on the desk by the bed. She walked over and fondly

picked up the largest... it was a wedding photo. A noise startled her,

and she looked up.

Outside, there was another happy squeal... a child yelled as a young

man laughed. "More Daddy! More! I want up again!"

The voices grew nearer, and the laughter began to sound familiar...

Ukyou felt a happy breath escape her lips... this felt so RIGHT.

She glanced down at the picture she was holding...

There, framed in white, stood a tall handsome man, his eyes gleaming

with happiness as his beautiful bride kissed his cheek. He was blushing,

but he held her close, and together they seemed to make a perfect pair.

Her long dark tresses were hidden by a veil, and his unruly hair was kept

back from his eyes by a yellow and black bandanna...

Ukyou gasped and flung back the covers.

[RYOUGA! ...and...me...?]

She fell back against the pillow, and scowled, but suddenly the

she heard again faintly the happy cries of the little boy... the wave of

joy swept softly over her again... the feeling of RIGHT and HOME...

Ukyou spoke aloud to the stillness of the house.

"Well...maybe..."

Deep within Ratiko's mind, the mental engines started to hum, and the

turbines of his consciousness began to spring to life. Unfortunately, the

already-mangled navigational and balance system was still reeling from the

night before.

Reiraku rubbed his throbbing head and wondered why the room was

constantly rotating to the left. Meanwhile, mental power was finally

restored to Ratiko's memory, although slowly, uneasily, and with the

occasional interference from the pain sensors that were registering a

throbbing signal from his skull.

The memories began to coalesce, to solidify slowly, into... him...

and... great grandma? And... Perdita? In bed? TOGETHER? A part of

Ratiko mentally shrieked in terror, but the rest of him was still spinning

with the room, so the full sense of panic didn't hit him. It WAS,

however, enough to set off a deep and fundamental feeling that _something_

was wrong.

Very wrong.

Incredibly wrong.

[Dream... Must have been... bad... food...]

And his bandanna... It seemed like it was fastened on too tight. WAY

too tight. He reached up to loosen it.

And found it wasn't there.

[Huh?]

It was at this point that he felt a quick self-check was needed. As

with any hangover victim, it started slowly, with the Hibiki refrain:

[Where am I?] He opened his eyes and was flooded with incredibly painful

light. His lids were immediately shut on a reflex. That, he felt, should

be held off till later. He tried not to think at all, but his sense of

touch was pointing something out.

[Breezy... veeeery breezy.] He didn't remember his clothes being so

flimsy... Actually, they didn't feel like his clothes at ALL. Ratiko

moved slightly, but his 'outfit' didn't. [Hey... these feel like...

sheets.] He slowly moved one hand to his chest, and felt nothing but

skin.

He moved his hand down to his thigh and it got the same results.

Which meant...

[OH DEITY, I'M NAKED!]

Reiraku opened his eyes in shock and alarm, ready to scream in panic.

He would've, but he felt too weak in the end.

He sensed that he wasn't alone. It was still a blur, but steadily

becoming sharper. Something nearby moved. He leaned forward, trying to

get it into focus.

"Didn't see enough of me LAST night?" a female voice asked tauntingly.

[OH DEITY DEITY DEITY TELL ME THAT'S NOT-]

Ratiko's vision snapped into full efficiency, and he realised

exactly what those gentle round curves he was nearly sticking his face

into were, and who they belonged to.

"Y-you!" Ratiko stifled a nosebleed and backed away.

"Good morning, darling," purred Nabiki.

Ratiko started stammering and babbling, "You... last night... Oh,

no... I..."

"So, wasn't *I* better than Ukyou?" asked his bedfellow.

[OH NO NO NO NO NO!] Well, at least now he knew why he was feeling

so sick to his stomach... Had he actually... with... with HER?!

[Think, Rat, think...] He tried to replay his last moments of

consciousness from last night, but his memory was still somewhat fried.

All his mental images were hazy, and when he tried to sharpen them, he

was rewarded with an invisible mallet to the cranium.

[Red... Something... red... I think...]

"Ratty-baby, want a tissue for that nosebleed? Hate to tell you, hon,

but your face is COVERED in it, and it's NOT very attractive."

[Oh. So THAT'S what's red... But...]

She handed him a kleenex, and the Hibiki, too lost to do anything

else, took it and began to wipe himself. The act of cleansing soothed

him, and he felt a sort of calm settling in.

"Don't tell me you don't REMEMBER?"

He didn't, and surprised himself by actually wishing that he did...

"I'm afraid not... I'm..."

[I'm shocked I'm so calm about this? I'm actually enjoying seeing a

legendary villainess next to me in her underwear? I'm bleeding to death,

but I don't care?]

"You're hung over."

"What?"

"You were drunk, Rat."

Now he remembered. The threat... and the wine... and... and her

smile...

"Then you and I really... We... I mean..."

Another nosebleed, and a blush. Plus, a little extra movement somewhat

further down the anatomical chart.

"Oh yes, we certainly did," she smiled, "and I have the pictures to

prove it. You're quite the daring one, 'Reiraku'... And 'Downfall' isn't

exactly a name I'd use for you..."

"I... Uh... PICTURES?!" His salivary gland joined his nasal

capillaries in celebrating the event.

He'd actually...

And he hadn't gotten lost...

And she hadn't run off...

And they weren't related, and...

"Um, can I... um... ask you something?" asked Ratiko shyly.

"Yes?" Nabiki grinned and moved in closer.

Ratiko suddenly stood up and grabbed her by her hands, a wild and

delirious look on his face.

"COULD I HAVE COPIES? PLEASE?"

Nabiki face-faulted.

[I'm back! I'm back! I'm back I'm back I'm back!]

Ryo was racing down the streets, his heart beating faster and faster.

This was _it_, the end of the line; he was HOME.

"BELL-CHAN!" he roared as he zoomed in to his house. He didn't care

if the neighbours would talk, he didn't care if everyone was thinking he

was acting weird, and he didn't care that he'd run so fast that he'd lost

sight of Godai and Tachi.

He felt like a new man today.

A door opened, and even though he was far, he _knew_ who that was.

"BELL-CHAN! I'M BACK!"

Ryo looked at Belldandy. After all this time, he was finally HERE, in

front of Her. Back home, where he belonged.

No strange half-siblings, no more need to lie... His conscience still

hurt whenever he thought about how he had been forced to deceive his own

MOTHER. Granted, one in an alternate reality, who would probably never

birth him, but... it was nice to know that...

He shook his head.

[Never again. Never again will I do anything like that. Now that I'm

with Bell-chan, I can finally settle down, and...]

Ryo finally slowed down, not wanting to run right past his beloved,

and stopped just a few feet away from her. He just gazed at the woman,

admiring how beautiful she was. [Oh, I've missed you.]

"Is something wrong, Ryo-kun?"

She smiled, showing twin rows of perfect pearls, matching those around

her neck.

"No... It's... It's just nice to be home..."

Now that the locket was gone, that's where he'd stay. Where it was

now, he didn't really care. Not after what he'd gone through. If someone

ELSE ended up with it; great, just so long as they left him and his loved

ones alone. If it had disappeared altogether...

[So much the better.]

"It's nice to have you home, Ryo."

Another smile. This one sent a thrill down his spine. And those

EYES... A beautiful shade of blue; deep as the ocean, kind as the gentle

night just after sunset...

"Oh, Bell-chan... I've missed you so much..."

Ryo began to cry, sending Kasumi's daughter to his side at once. She

massaged his shoulders with her silk-soft hands, chanting in a tone that

could only bring him peace.

"Whatever has happened, it's all right. We're together, and our

parents have already approved the wedding..."

[The wedding!] Had that been set already? He couldn't remember... His

mind was still a bit groggy, everything in a haze...

"The... The date has been chosen?" His muscles tensed, making

Belldandy frown for a second before doubling the intensity of her massage.

"While you were gone, Ryo-kun... Did mother forget to tell you? We

will be wed tomorrow!"

"Tomorrow?!" Ryo bolted straight up.

"Don't do that, darling! You need to calm down!"

"Calm? Now? I'm calm, Belldandy! Really!" He grinned from ear to ear.

"In fact, I've never been happier!" That was an understatement. To find

out that everything had been arranged... "You're SURE about this?"

"Have I ever lied to you, Ryo-kun?"

At once, he regretted having opened his mouth. His fiancee, and

soon-to-be wife, would never even DREAM of... Of...

[Of doing to me what I've done to my mother.]

That was behind him now.

And it would stay there.

"No, Belldandy," he said softly. "You never have."

She smiled, only a thin film of water over her eyes, and walked to

him, arms outstretched. He received her, and looked once more into her

azure eyes, eyes that seemed to burn with a blue flame as he pulled her

head towards his, and prepared to kiss...

*SLAP*

"Ryo no hentai!"

[Huh?]

"Geeze, and to think I'd almost changed my MIND about him! Again."

"Is something wrong, Miyabi?"

[Miyabi? But...]

"Nothing, mum. I should've expected it. Instead of the creep being

thankful for being rescued from a ditch, he tries to KISS me! He probably

got drunk last night. No WONDER he never came back..."

[No! Not here! Not... Not when I...]

Saotome Ryo opened his eyes and very briefly saw Tendou Akane and

Saotome Miyabi glaring at him from above, before two powerful blows sent

him flying above the treetops.

"Ranmaaaaaaaa!" He could hear faintly from below, "Even your SONS are

PERVERTS!"

At least the aerial view was nice. He never HAD realised how

beautiful Nerima was in the morning...

END ACT THREE

Annotations for Act 3

"A cure? To what?" The Nerima being used as the 'main' reality in Converging Series is set some time before Nodoka discovers the truth about her son. - "Per... Per..." Ratiko is trying to say "Perdita", which is Nabiki's form in Ranma 2096. "Perdita" is generally not liked by Ratiko. - "HOW DARE YOU MENTION THOSE TWO NAMES IN THE SAME BREATH?!" In Ranma 2096 continuity, Tatewaki is considered a hero, while Kodachi is extremely villified. - "I MEANT THE BANDOLIER, YOU JACKASS!" Through a turn of events a little too lengthy to cover here, Childra Jansen wears Ukyou's bandolier. Go read Ranma 2096 to figure it all out. - "You SEE, Opim? Everything's upside-down..." OPIM is a device planted in Ratiko's head. See Ranma 2096 for details. - "Ukyou lay in bed, staring at the ceiling..." Special thanks to Nicola Wright for this scene.


	4. Chapter 4

Act 4

The story so far...

ACT I:

In an alternate reality where Ranma married Shampoo, their daughter

had somehow obtained a magic locket that allowed her to cross dimensions.

A few accidents later, several of Ranma's 'children' from various

realities ended up in one reality, where Ranma was still a teen-age youth.

One among them, Ryo Saotome (son of Ranma and Ukyou) managed to get a hold

of the locket before Cologne was about to do something devious with it.

Following his victory, Ryo sent all the children of Ranma &amp; company to

their proper realities, and then prepared to go home himself. Something,

however, went wrong. He ended up in a bizarre version of Tokyo in 2096

and accidentally dragged along Ratiko Hibiki and Childra Jansen in his

attempt to fix this mistake. That attempt dragged him to two other

realities with amazing speed. From them, he accidentally brought Miyabi,

daughter of Ranma and Akane, and Ishido, a mysterious amnesiac hunted by a

shadowy organisation. Finally, they stopped in a reality where Ranma &amp; co.

were still teens, but had never met them before. And now...

ACT II:

Childra, curious as to what caused their dimensional/reality shift,

watched Ryo Saotome closely, and discovered that the locket is the source

of their troubles. She tried, and succeeded, in stealing the locket from

him without his noticing. Ratiko schemed to make sure that the history of

his world takes place, and began a plan to kill Ranma and frame Miyabi for

the murder. He succeeded in getting a blood sample from her and a torn

piece of her clothing, but was interrupted before he could go through with

his plan. In a talk with Ishido, he found out about a certain

umbrella-wielding maniac threatening to kill Ryouga in Ishido's reality.

In a panic, Ratiko rushed to Childra, and accidentally triggered the

locket. The three of them found themselves on a bridge somewhere. Before

they left, they accidentally dragged along Ryo Muhoshin, a person that

looked amazingly like Hikaru Gosunkugi, but in truth was a bit more

devious. Bringing him along, the four crossed several realities, narrowly

escaping danger, capture, and death. Then they returned to the Nerima they

had left from, with an irate Ryo Saotome waiting for them. Meanwhile,

Miyabi had put up with the antics of her grandparents (Soun and Genma) who

were overjoyed at her existence, distressed at the way her parents were

fighting, greatly annoyed at her trans-dimensonal half brother Ryo

Saotome, and had decided that a talk with Grandmother Nodoka was in order.

ACT III:

Miyabi went to Nodoka's to talk, unaware that Ranma's life was in

danger due to the promise Genma made to Nodoka regarding manliness and

Ranma's upbringing. The end result was that Nodoka was invited to dinner,

expecting to see her son, daughter-in-law, and granddaughter. Miyabi's

age, almost that of Ranma, was, unfortunately, not forseen as a major

problem by Miyabi. Upon returning from her accidental trip through time,

Childra surrendered the locket to Ryo Saotome once again. Meanwhile, the

extra passenger they picked up along the way, Ryo Muhoshin, passed himself

off as 'Ryo Gosunkugi, son of Gosunkugi and Ukyou' and had everyone

fooled. Nabiki got a hold of the material Ratiko was planning to frame

Miyabi with and used it to blackmail him into buying her dinner, among

other things. They end up at Ucchan's, where he washed dishes to pay for

things. He eventually got drunk, hit on Ukyou, and was knocked out by a

blow to the head. Childra and Ishido became more... intimately attached.

When his guard was down, Ryo Saotome was knocked out by Ryo Muhoshin, who

then accidentally triggered the locket and disappeared into times and

places unknown. Ryo Saotome woke up much later to find the locket gone, an

image of it burned in his hand, and discovered what was inside the locket:

A picture of him and Bell-chan, his fiancee.

Ishido woke with a start, nearly jerking upright and laying waste to

whatever demon from his past had captured him-but something made him

stop and look down. What he saw startled him... but that was quickly

replaced by an unfamiliar feeling. He brushed back the blonde bangs that

had fallen in Childra's eyes, murmuring words from a song he had once

heard, "On a hot summer night, would you bare your throat to the wolf?"

He was looking up at the ceiling, not really expecting an answer, so

he was more than a little startled to hear a soft "yes" from a sleepily

blinking Childra. Ishido was not used to this sort of situation and

stammered. "Er... ah... I-i-i-aiyah..." Childra blinked and smiled

sleepily up at him. Ishido had the natural reaction; he blushed

furiously. Childra chuckled a bit and fell back asleep, leaving Ishido to

his ponderings.

[A bit later...]

Ishido waited for Childra in the restaurant part of Ucchan's, looking

alarmed and more than a little worried. He had gotten up and gotten

dressed soon as Childra had gone back to sleep. Then, he had stepped

outside for a bit, to jump to the roof and watch the sunrise; he had a lot

to think about. After a while, he had gone back inside, to wait for

Childra.

Childra yawned and smiled as she woke up again, reaching over to give

Ishido a hug.

Unfortunately, he wasn't there.

[Wha... Huh?] With her eyes still closed, she felt around the

mattress...

Nothing.

For a moment, a feeling of... loneliness and sadness washed over her,

but she quickly realized that he must be waiting for her outside.

She smiled to herself.

[I don't blame the poor dear if he needs a bit of air after last

night...]

After a bit of lazy procrastination and stretching, she rose from the

bed and got about getting dressed.

When she got into the main room of the restaurant, Ishido was

standing by the doorway, looking into a scrap of glass. It was mirrored,

and just large enough, apparently, for him to see what he needed to... to

see that the answers didn't lay in his reflection. She walked up to him

and draped herself over his shoulders.

"Hi there, Lobis... sleep well?"

Ishido stiffened a bit-Childra wouldn't have noticed, if she hadn't

been draped over him the way she was. He gently disengaged her from

himself, then stood up, gazing at her with his crystal-clear eyes, a roil

of indefinable emotions like a storm in his eyes. He took her by the

shoulders and pulled her into a corner-Childra felt the first stirrings

of fear and sadness start, but ignored them to concentrate on what her

lover said.

The words that followed hit her heart like a northern hailstorm.

"Childra... I... after... last night... I have to think. To be...

alone. To work out what I'm feeling."

Simple words, and they didn't convey much of... Of a message, in the

usual sense, but their meaning was clear.

She had given herself to him, wholly and without a reservation, and

he was now refusing that gift.

Childra drew upon the last vestiges of her strength and managed

not to break down until Ishido had gathered his things and walked out the

door, near-oblivious to the shine of her held-back tears in her

now-emerald green eyes. Ukyou noticed the minor commotion and was making

steps towards her when Childra suddenly, yet very slowly and calmly,

stepped through the door and out into the street. Looking to see which

way Ishido went, she took off-in the opposite direction. Ukyou made a

quick decision, and took off after her-just barely remembering to put

the "Closed" sign up on her door before tearing off after the near-broken

girl.

Ryo Saotome groaned. His world was slowly coming into blurry focus

He tried to remember what had happened, his mind foggy with one of those

typical migranes that were the result of a typical Nerima beating...

typical for the males of the Saotome line, that is. [oooooh... now I know

how dad felt...] He sat up, and felt the sudden urge to take a walk, clear

his thoughts. Unnoticed by the rest of the house, he stumbled out and

walked alone, looking down at his feet as he pondered his dream... and

daydreamed of Bell-chan, of *his* Bell-chan, waiting for him in his

reality. He didn't really pay attention to where he was going, looking

down as he was for one thing, and lost in his thoughts... until he saw

something which snapped him back to the here and now with a sudden, cold

clarity.

Lying on the ground in front of him was the picture of himself and

Bell-chan that had been in the locket.

Ryo blinked, then blinked again. He fell on his hands and knees,

staring at the photograph. Two faces stared back, faces he knew well. He

saw one every time he looked in a mirror, and the other one every time he

dreamed.

"How?" Carefully, reverently, he picked up the age-faded picture.

The edges were worn; someone had cut the plastic into the shape of a

heart, and the layers of film had separated. "This... can't be...

Bell-chan and I just had this picture taken. We still haven't give copies

away yet; I have the only proof in my wallet..."

He felt a cold fear grip his heart, as, urged on by the emotion, his

mind slipped through the binds of logic and came to a conclusion on who

had the locket. "Gosling..." he breathed, a crystal-clear picture in his

mind of the quiet, unassuming young man with the umbrella. Ryo was lucky

\- while like this, he was able to recall little bits of information that

he otherwise would have forgotten.

[Ishido... Ishido *knows* Gosling...] This thought burnt itself into

Ryo's mind and he took off in search of the amnesiac. [Where is he?]

As it just so happened, Ishido had found his way to the bridge that

was the site for so many things in Nerima, and was slumped against a rock,

unfocused eyes gazing out across the water, regardless of what was and

wasn't out there. [I... do I... do I love Childra? I... know that I care

for her a great deal. But... I... all my life, I've been running from

something. Do I want to subject her to that sort of life? Will she want

to? I know that she's... experienced... maybe I'm not worth the trouble to

her... I... no! I can't. And yet... I think... I think I love her. I...

will talk to her. If she wants to... then... then we'll see.] Any further

thoughts on Ishido's part were dispelled by a shadow that fell across his

face, blocking out the sun. It was Ryo Saotome.

"We have to talk." Steel was in his voice and a fire glinted in

Ryo's eyes.

Ishido nodded slowly, seeing this as a way to put his situation with

Childra out of his mind. Ryo grabbed his arm roughly and pulled him up.

"Somewhere else, somewhere safe." Ishido nodded and followed the intense

young man to a quiet, secluded area away from the rest of the park.

Ryo paced back and forth. "Tell me everything you know about Ryo

Gosunkugi, Ishido. Everything."

Ishido was somewhat taken aback by this request, but nodded slowly.

"Ok. First off-his name *isn't* Ryo Gosunkugi. It's... Ryo... Muhoshin, I

believe. ..Yes. Muhoshin, that's his name." Saotome nodded and motioned

for him to continue. "Well...from what I remember, Muhoshin was mainly

interested in revenging himself against Ryouga Hibiki for some past

rivalries. They use the same style of martial arts, centered around the

umbrella. Muhoshin has several 'ki-attacks'- the Ryugeki-ken, Gekihou,

Gou-ryugeki-ken, Bakusai-ten-satsu, and Hyaku-Gekihou, among a few

others." Ryo started at the almost familiar..

"Don't you mean Bakusai-tenketsu? The breaking point that Ryouga uses

on inanimate objects?"

Ishido shook his head, deadly serious. "Bakusai-ten-satsu.

Apparently, Gosling found a way to make it work on organic things... like

bones. It's... not a pretty sight." Ryo blanched. A man who could

explode the bones in a body was a formidable opponent indeed. "Go on."

Ishido shook his head, eyes glinting as they unfocused, as he

searched his memory for more of his elusive memories of Muhoshin. "I...

that's all I know. I'm sorry." Ryo shook his head. For now, it would have

to do. Ryo thanked Ishido and ran off, leaving Ishido to stare down his

million threats and dreams.

Childra sat on one of the benches in Ucchan's, sobbing quietly.

"I need liquor," she muttered.

"H... Hai..." Ukyou knew just how she felt... Often, when she came

back for Ranchan's...

Kuonji took a worn key from around her neck and opened a small

cabinet hidden under the griddle. From there, she pulled out a large

bottle made of blue glass, and a wooden cup, both of which she set down

before the tearful archaeologist.

"Thanks." Jansen popped the top off the bottle, not bothering to

inspect its contents, and poured herself a cupful. It went down her

throat in one quick motion.

Then promptly came back up again.

"What IS this stuff?" She held the vessel to the light, trying to

peer inside. Was something MOVING in there?

"It's... It's my father's special recipe... He..." Ukyou shuffled her

feet. "He drank it a lot, after Ranchan and his father left with the

yattai..."

"You're telling me YOU drink this?"

"Hai."

"Often?"

"Well..."

"Never mind. Once a year, even, and I'll definitely think of hiring

you whenever I need a partner on a research trip to Tibet... I'll bet YOU

wouldn't have any trouble with yak-butter tea..."

"Are... Are you feeling better, then?"

"Better?" Childra held the empty cup pensively. "No... not...

better'..."

Tears welled up in her eyes, and...

[Her cheeks are turning red... She drank enough... Good... It should

help her forget...]

"Look at me," she went on, her speech now slurred. "LOOK AT ME!"

She tore off her jacket and was about to do the same to her shirt

before Kuonji stopped her. "Anythin' wrong with this?" She waved her

hands over herself.

"You look fine, Jansen-san."

"FINE?" A Kodachi-like cackle. "MORE than fine, girl, if the U of

Tokyo boys are anythin' to judge by..."

[Maybe she had TOO much?]

"And now... NOW, when I FINALLY find ONE guy I like, ONE guy who

wants to spend time with me without jumpin' in the sack..."

Ukyou herself was turning red, and she had drunk nothing that day.

"THAT guy runs away. Says he 'isn't ready'. Say... You have any

REAL liquor?"

"S... Some..."

"How 'bout some tequila?"

"I... I think I can manage..."

[Remember the coin; you owe her your restaurant...]

She rummaged through her closets, trying to find that bottle she

always kept for Lardi... Oh. There it was.

Down it came, and onto the counter, where Childra took it and

instantly poured herself a glass. A LARGE glass.

"Maybe... maybe he has someone already..." She raised the cup to her

lips, drained it and refilled it. "A nice guy like that, no memory,

diff'rent reality... That type doesn't stay single for long. Prolly has

a.. A wife... Who knows, maybe... maybe KIDS..." Two glasses went down,

this time, leaving her with an ear-to-ear grin. "I know many gals

wouldn't mind going through childbirth for a night like..."

"M... More prawn crackers, Jansen-san?"

"I didn't have any to begin with..."

"Ah... Would you like some, then?"

"The tequila suits me just fine... Say... You aren't EMBARASSED, are

you?"

"Me?" Ukyou flushed red.

"Yep. You are... Perhaps... Perhaps you're right 'bout that...

Maybe... Maybe I was too forceful... Scared him away..."

"No! I'm sure he didn't mind! I mean, most men... I..." Ucchan

covered her mouth with her hand... There were things that someone who

prided on being Ranma's 'cute fiancee' just DIDN'T say aloud.

"You're right... He was a tough nut to crack..." Another grin. "So to

speak... But when we got down to it..."

She turned pale, and dropped the cup.

"M... Maybe I wasn't good enough! Why doesn't he want to... what if I

went too quick... maybe for him... there isn't anything else anymore... oh

god..."

Ukyou reached over to embrace her, but before she could, Childra

grabbed the bottle and slugged a good portion of it.

"What am I cryin' about, anyway?" she asked the room. "I'm not even

sure I... Maybe I DON'T love him. Ever think of THAT?" She waved an

accusing finger at an invisible spectator. "Maybe it was just the hunt,

the fact that he isn't the sort of man to jump into bed with any woman...

What'm I gonna do?"

"Childra, I..." Kuonji put her arm around her neck. "I know what

you're going through... Believe me... And..."

The time-traveler ignored her sympathy and went on with her sobbing

rant.

" I... if... if he won't have me... then... what will I do? My

life... it isn't worth anything without someone to hold on to... Oh,

Ukyou... I don't know WHAT TO DO!"

She could no longer choke back the tears, and collapsed crying onto

Ukyou's bosom, while the girl shushed her and gently stroked her hair.

It had been an interesting couple of days for Reiraku Hibiki. So far

he'd visited at least six different 'dimensions', met and trained (a

little) with his great-grandfather, helped his great grandmother with her

store, and did a few... unclear things.

One of those unclear things was currently walking next to him as they

strolled through Nerima. It was a thing of average height, with short

brown hair, a wicked grin, and that certain quality called feminine

mystique.

She was, or so he'd been raised to believe, an evil monster guilty of

unpardonable sins against his ancestors. A demoness, a succubus, a

servant of the utmost evil, embodiment of all that was Not Righteous.

And he had apparently slept with her.

Ratiko couldn't help but occasionally stare at her, wondering exactly

how things had gotten to this point, and whether or not this was the right

state of affairs. His peers would certainly not understand.

No, they'd be horrified.

"Hey, Ratty-baby, why the stare?" asked Nabiki curiously

"Huh?"

"You were lookin' at me a bit blankly, Ratiko."

"I was?"

Nabiki grinned. She knew she had him by hook and by crook. Just

like Ryouga, this Hibiki seemed to be easily swayed by the 'fair sex' (a

term that a few would say didn't apply to Nabiki).

Ratiko took a look at the smile on the Tendo girl's face. It seemed,

to him, to be a rather nice smile. Certainly not the smile of a monster

that would ruin the lives of his ancestors.

"Got something on your mind, Ratty-baby?" inquired Nabiki.

Actually, he did. It was, in concept, a somewhat embarrassing

question to ask, especially in light of who was involved in the matter,

but he had to ask.

"Actually... I was wondering abou-"

"NABIKI TENDO! I am in need of your services!" boomed Tatewaki

Kunou, appearing suddenly. Ratiko reeled in shock from the sudden

surprise. He stared at Kunou, then at Nabiki. Apparently, the legends

were true: Kunou was swift as the wind and loud as thunder. He never saw

him coming and felt a little deaf after the initial roar of Blue Thunder's

Rant.

Ratiko suddenly realized something... he asked for her services?

"But," he asked, "I thought you said that you didn't...?"

Nabiki whapped him on the head. "He's not asking for THAT kind of

service!" She calmed down immediately, then turned to Kunou. "So, what's

it today, Kunou-baby?"

"I need images of my two beloveds! As many as possible! My heart

doth grow weak in their absence!" Kunou was facing an internal crisis.

The girl he had run into the night before, the gaijin with blond hair, had

tempted him. She had made his heart stray from his beloved pig-tailed

girl and Akane Tendo. Was his heart not pure? His intentions just and

right? His love for his goddesses real and ever-lasting? He had awakened

on this day, determined to re-focus his romantic resolve on his two *true*

loves, and none other.

Ratiko stared blankly as Kunou and Nabiki negotiated. This, he

wondered, was the great and noble Tatewaki Kunou? He who implemented

governmental policies that spread peace throughout the globe? He who was

worshiped as a saint in Ratiko's era? THIS rambling, woman-chasing,

bokken-waving man was to become a world hero? It seemed rather hard to

believe. Needless to say, he was beginning to feel a little disillusioned

about the great founder of his society.

But then again, he wasn't supposed to be like that until Ranma was

dead and Akane Tendo deceased by suicide. With that thought nagging on

his mind, he decided to see if he could do something about THAT a bit

later.

Ratiko idly put his hands in his pants and hummed a bit, waiting for

Nabiki to conclude her business. That's when he felt it... a hole in his

pocket. He momentarily frowned on the apparent loss of a few silver Kunou

coins that he had dumped in there, but that was small change anyways.

Ukyou went about tidying up the room in which Nabiki and Ratiko had

spent the night. She blushed when she noticed the sheets were

considerably undone, and wondered what Nabiki had done last night. As she

flapped out the blanket, getting it ready to fold, something shiny and

metallic flew in the air and landed with a *clank* on the floor. She

immediately recalled the two gold coins that Childra had given her, and

checked the floor. Instead of antique gold, however, there was an odd and

somewhat large silver coin. She held it up to the light, inspecting it's

image.

"No... can't be... no way."

She flipped the coin in her hand, feeling somewhat disappointed. Any

currency that had Tatewaki Kunou on the front couldn't have been too

valuable. At least, at the rate things were going right now, they

certainly weren't.

Tatewaki Kunou, global saviour? Suuuure.

"Ye gods! Is there no service in sight within the meager confines of

this eating establishment?! SERVICE! WHERE IS THE SERVICE!"

Ukyou narrowed her eyes. _Well, speak of the devil._

"Hold on! Wait a sec! I'm comin' already!" Continuing to flip the

coin, she stalked off to the cash register in the front. _What the hell

am I gonna do with this piece of junk?_ she wondered, tossing the coin

again.

By a street, in a fashionable part of town, under a large table and

sitting on some pseudo-fancy plastic furniture, Nabiki and Ratiko were

doing their best to relax under the pleasant outdoor conditions of the

day. Nabiki was succeeding greatly, Ratiko wasn't.

"So, tell me again why you have Kunou's face on your cash?" asked

Nabiki, munching on her yakitori with one hand, inspecting a Kunou Silver

Dollar with the other. It was definitely real currency, with a good

quality to it as well. Their rendition of Kunou, whoever made this silver

coin, was incredibly flattering.

"Didn't I tell you this already?" asked Ratiko, feeling as if he was

being a bit mocked at the moment.

"Yeah yeah, but I still get a kick out of hearing it, so tell me

again, hm?" She grinned as she munched on her yakitori. It was a good

morning so far, with Ratiko having enough money left over to buy her a

modest brunch, and now some fairly amusing storytelling.

"Okay, it goes like this..." Ratiko explained how Kunou turned to

religion after the demise of Akane, a part of the story that Nabiki didn't

like at all. Then he went on to tell how Kunou had begun a movement of

social and government reform which led to the current/future status of

Japan.

Nabiki was snickering terribly.

"Hey, this isn't funny!" insisted Ratiko. "He helped make the world

a better place! The man is considered a global saviour!"

Nabiki spat out her drink and began laughing rather loudly.

"Ah, forget it." He frowned and gave her a disapproving glare, but

still couldn't help how much she _didn't_ look like an evil scourge from

hell and _did_ look like a very normal, maybe even beautiful girl. And on

the subject of girls, he still wanted to ask...

"Hey, Nabiki," he said, sounding somewhat nervous.

She managed to slow her nearly out of control laughter back to a

controlled snickering. "Hm?" she managed between snickers.

"Er... I didn't... er... I mean... Ukyou... well... you said...

er..." How one asks if one had slept with one's great-grandmother, he

didn't know, but he wasn't making much progress in making up an effective

method for it either. It was bad enough that he had apparently done so

with the Evil Tendo. A part of his mind was screaming in horror and

echoing 'PERVERT!', but it was located next to his directional skills so

it wasn't really heard very well.

"What about Ukyou?" wondered Nabiki, finally recovered from her long

laughing streak.

"Well, er... I was wondering i-"

"WHAT A GRAND DAY IT IS INDEED FOR THE BLUE THUNDER!" boomed the

voice of Nerima's resident kendo master. Ratiko was jolted out of his

seat by the sudden Blue Thunder Vocal Ambush. Kunou blinked, noticing the

sudden movement, and saw only Nabiki Tendo sitting at a table and some

strange fellow apparently sprawled on the floor. "Ah, Nabiki Tendo, the

mistress of the yen! Would you not agree that this is a fair day indeed?"

"Yeah, nice day, nice day." She tried to look at Kunou and imagine

him as a world saviour.

"Nabiki Tendo? Are you feeling well?" Kunou peered at her with some

curiosity as she began to snicker uncontrollably once more.

"Ah HAHAHAHA aheh ahem... Sorry Kunou-baby, just had a joke on my

mind, that's all." She sniffled a bit, fighting back the urge to start

laughing again. Then it happened: her money making instinct kicked in.

She slowly stopped snickering, gaining a sort of calmness, and looked at

the coin which Ratiko had shown to her. It was indeed a very well made

coin... incredibly flattering... and of a fairly large size too. Something

Kunou would certainly take a liking to... for a price.

"Hey, Kunou-baby, I think I might have something that'll interest

you," she said, holding the coin between two fingers and grinning.

"But I thought you said you didn't..." began Ratiko, who'd finally

recovered from his Blue Thunder Surprise. Nabiki gave him a look that

would be fatal to many small animals and plant life, and was about to whap

him when a bokken did the job for her.

"Cretin! Do you suggest that the honorable Tatewaki Kunou requests

indecent services from the likes of Nabiki Tendo?!" Kunou finished his

rant with his bokken held high, and somewhere in the background a bolt of

lightning streaked across the sky. "Apologize, cur!"

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"

Nabiki grabbed him by the collar. "Have a seat, be very quiet," she

hissed. "This won't take too long."

"Alright then... where were we..." muttered Nabiki, "oh yeah. Have a

look at this." She held the fairly large coin before Kunou and waited for

his ego to kick in.

There was a moment of silence.

"Ah, yes, I see you now carry the new currency of our mighty nation!"

Nabiki stared at him, somewhat confused, as he ranted on. "I saw the

first of this coinage at the eatery of the one known as Kuonji, upon which

she hath freely gave it to me in much haste, OBVIOUSLY with great joy upon

seeing how the sagely persons in charge of our nation's monetary system

have seen fit to to place the image of I, TATEWAKI KUNO, upon our monies!"

Nabiki sighed and turned away, muttering a small curse at Ukyou.

Meanwhile, Ratiko was counting the Kunou-bills, wondering exactly how

much he had anyways. As fate would have it, Kunou noticed. He grabbed a

handfull of bills, staring at them. Ratiko didn't know exactly what to

do. Apparently the saviour of the world had just taken his money, and it

wasn't the sort of situation he was used to dealing with.

"A-HA! Do you see? Do you see? This unparalleled visage of mine

doth indeed adorn ALL the monetary units of Japan! MY GREATNESS IS

ACKNOWLEDGED BY ALL! AHAHAHAA! *URGH*"

Ratiko stared at Nabiki. "Um... Nabiki..."

"What?" she hissed.

"You just malleted the Global Saviour."

"Don't worry, he gets hit like that all the time. Now get me a

drink, hm?"

Ranma and his newfound 'daughter' stood in the doujou at a combat

stance, both breathing heavily. Ranma had offered, rather awkwardly, to

spar with her. Both father and daughter found some inner peace whenever

they practiced the martial arts.

However, her father's reluctance to try to hit her wasn't helping her

relax, and was in fact somewhat irritating.

"All you're doing is dodging!" she yelled.

"I -don't- hit girls," he replied calmly, "didn't I ever tell you

that?"

"I don't think you did, dad," she replied, then surprised him with a

sudden and extremely quick flurry of attacks, ending with him flying out

to the pond. Miyabi stepped out by the pond with a smug look and said,

"so, what do you think?"

Ranma-chan dragged herself out of the pool, muttering something about

rather violent genetics and said, "hey, pretty good." Miyabi felt her

pride swell a bit.

And then uncle Tatewaki was suddenly there, groping her father. It

was, from her viewpoint, fairly disgusting, and in fact incredibly

disturbing, possibly to the point of mild shock. Uncle Tatewaki was

_groping_ her dad? Ewwwwww.

"Oh, my beloved pig-tailed goddess!" Ranma felt Kunou's hug tighten

even more, and her temper went skyrocketing.

"GET OFFA ME YOU PERVERT!" She slung Kunou away in an

over-the-shoulder toss, but didn't realize where she was flinging him.

Miyabi eeped and slammed the flying Kunou with a spinning roundhouse kick

back towards Ranma, who just ducked and let him hit a boulder and sink

into the water. "Idiot," she mumbled.

"Is... is Uncle Tatewaki okay?" inquired Miyabi. "I didn't mean to

hit him so hard."

"He's fine. Gets it all the time. Ain't that right, Kunou?" she

asked, dragging him out of the water.

"Ah *ptui*cough*cough* such martial arts prowess! I am duely

impressed. Allow me to introduce myself..."

Kunou gave his long introductory rant while Miyabi stared in

disbelief. He really _was_ ridiculously long-winded back then.

"Pig-tailed one!" said Kunou, waiving something in the air, "feast

thine eyes on proof of the greatness of Tatewaki Kunou!"

Ranma looked. It seemed to be several wet pieces of paper, looking a

lot like money. With his face in the center. "What the heck is this?"

asked Ranma, examining the paper. The date it was printed seemed to be...

2095? He looked to his future daughter with a questioning glance. She

shrugged, having never seen that type of money before either.

"Verily, the great nation of Japan has finally given its most blessed

son the honor and glory he deserves! And so, pig-tailed one, would'st

thou care to DATE with me, a national symb-*UGH*" Kunou went flying

across Nerima's skyline once more.

"Damn sicko," muttered Ranma.

"Why is uncle Tatewaki groping you, dad?" asked Miyabi, giving her

father an accusing glance.

"Hey, it ain't like that!"

"Well, how IS it like, dad?"

"He doesn't know about the curse."

"He... doesn't... know?"

Miyabi turned away from Ranma, shaking slightly.

"Hey, Miyabi..." Ranma reached out and tapped her shoulder.

And that's when Miyabi started laughing.

"HAHAHAHAHAAAA!"

"What? This ain't funny!"

"HAHA*snicker*HAAA!"

"It ain't funny, I tell ya!"

Miyabi breathed in and out deeply in an attempt to calm down. After a

few minutes, it actually worked. "Why haven't you told him yet?" she

asked. "I thought that at least Aunt Nabiki would've forced you to by

now. She's gonna marry him, after all."

"Nabiki? And Kunou?" Ranma blinked. "Oh yeah. Ya know...

actually, that makes sense." He recalled the time Nabiki 'told' Kunou

about how he and the pig-tailed girl were connected. It wasn't a pleasant

memory. "C'mon, let's get back to the doujou. You ain't hitting me like

_that_ again," she said with a smirk.

"Oh, is that a challenge, dad?" asked Miyabi. "Alright!"

And so, father (although by appearances, one wouldn't have guessed

so) and daughter returned to the doujou, feeling at least a little more

upbeat than before.

Ryo had a headache.

That wasn't surprising; his skull had been attracting blunt objects

with distressing regularity ever since Spring crossed his path. The added

stress of dimensional travel didn't help any.

He needed to get home, his fellow travelers needed to get home, yet

nobody else was making any effort to leave this reality. [Well, almost

nobody. And if Ishido is right, this other Ryo has been playing us all

for fools.]

He looked down at his hands. In his left he held the photograph, an

anachronistic enigma he couldn't begin to explain. Branded into his right

palm was a heart, the reverse image of the cause of all his pain. [It's

like that two-dee movie the American President played in, Raiders of the

Last Arc.] He traced the pattern lightly. [I can even make out the

flowers that were engraved on the front of the damned thing.]

He clenched his fist, hiding the image. "If this means what I think

it means, then I'm as damned as that locket. Maybe more so."

"Why Ranma so sad?" A pair of slender hands wrapped themselves

around Ryo's arm and pulled him off balance. The pig-tailed boy stumbled,

falling into the waiting embrace of a very well developed young woman.

"Wh-" he began, but the purple-haired girl's enthusiasm had driven

the air from his lungs. [Purple hair? Spring?!] He tried to break free.

[No, wait, this isn't Spring, it's-]

Shampoo likewise realized she'd made a mistake. She shoved Ryo away;

he bounced twice along the sidewalk. "Who you?" she demanded. "Why you

look like Ranma?"

"I'm your transdimensional stepson," he rattled back irritably.

Shampoo blinked in confusion, giving Ryo time to pick himself off the

sidewalk. [At least I didn't land on my head,] he mused as he rubbed the

seat of his pants.

The Amazon scratched her head. "Shampoo not understand."

He tried again. "I'm Ukyou's son from an alternate future."

Shampoo pouted.

Ryo sighed. "Magic."

Shampoo brightened up considerably, clapping her hands. "Is very

good magic," she chirped.

"Ha!" Ryo's laugh was half-snarl. "You Amazons are about the only

ones who think so."

Shampoo frowned, then shrugged. Most of the conversation had gone

over her head. "I go home now," she decided.

"You do that," Ryo agreed. His headache hadn't gotten any better,

and the last thing he needed was a discussion of time-travel paradoxes in

words of two syllables or less...

He watched warily as Shampoo walked away, his mind still working on

the problem at hand: the means to travel across time and reality now that

the locket was stolen. He didn't need any distractions right now,

especially from Shampoo or her grandmother. Now, where could he go for

help... He stood up quickly and immediately hit his head on a low

branch. It jarred his skull yet again, and he flopped down to the

pavement, staring at what was now a trio of Shampoos walking off.

[That's it!] he thought, his spirits lifting slightly. Cologne knew

more than enough about the magic arts to help him out. Of course, that

was the problem as well. The last time he'd met a Cologne, she'd managed

to almost twist reality to her will, via the locket. To let her know that

such power was within her reach might be a dangerous gamble. He looked

once more at the tattered photograph that apparently fell out of the

locket before it vanished with its thief. Him and Bell-chan... together.

Unless Mr. Tendo or Grandfather was more adept in magic then they had let

on, he didn't see any other options. Cologne it was, then. Somewhere

within, he felt that maybe this was destiny.

"Hey! Shampoo! Wait up!"

Shampoo paused in her stride, wondering who was calling her. She

looked around. [Aiyah! It's Ranma!] she thought with glee, bubbling over

with happiness. Then her long term memory kicked in and reminded her of

something. [Oh. The one that only looks like Ranma. Again. Fu.]

"What you want?" she asked, irritated.

"I need to talk to your great-grandmother," he said carefully.

"What you need see great-grandmother for?" she asked suspiciously.

Ryo hesitated. Shampoo seemed dim-witted, but considering who her

great-grandmother was, he wasn't sure her appearances could be trusted.

"Let's just say that I need her wisdom."

Shampoo brightened. "Great-grandmother very wise, she help you very

very much! We go now," she said, getting on her bike, "you follow, yes?"

"You think she'll see me?" he wondered.

"She help people all the time," said Shampoo proudly. Ryo didn't

bother to add his comments, which would've certainly been to the contrary

of her statement, and possibly impolite.

[I hope this doesn't backfire.]

Shampoo led Ryo into the Nekohanten and behind the back door, through

a curtained doorway. In a darkened room lit only by candles, a small,

wrinkled figure stood.

"Welcome," said she, in a raspy voice that set his hairs on end. He

stepped in front of her, feeling uneasy with the examining gaze that she

gave him. "My Shampoo tells me you seek my aid?"

"That's right," he said, feeling apprehension and dread creep into

his nerves already. He fought those feelings, and quickly assumed a calm

mask. Cologne, however, seemed to notice his unease, as her gaze became

one of curiosity and cunning.

"So, what can I do for one of the Saotome lineage?"

"How..."

"Come now, there is no doubt as to what you are." She narrowed her

eyes once more, her observation of him making Ryo feel definitely

uncomfortable. "Now, what is your name, boy?"

"Saotome Ryo."

"Well then, Saotome Ryo... what's on your mind?"

Ryo paused a moment, trying to find just the right words for this

next question... "Do you... has there ever..." He took in a deep

breath, not liking the fact that he was appearing nervous before the old

hag. "You're familiar with magic, yes?"

Cologne nodded carefully. She sensed this boy was hiding something,

else why would he seem to choose his words so carefully?

"Has there ever been... an object... that was rumored to affect

time?" Inside, he began to worry. Was that saying too much already? No,

it couldn't be.

"Time? Be more exact boy, you're being rather vague." Cologne hoped

to bait him into revealing more than he wanted to, although she doubted it

would work. One had to try, though.

"Perhaps... traveling through time?" asked Ryo.

"Oh! Time TRAVEL, is it? Well, well, there is ONE device." She

grinned as Ryo became obviously eager despite his best efforts to remain

calm. And, as any good Amazon would do, she took advantage of it. "What

interests you in time travel, boy? Eh?"

"I..." What to say? He knew if he said he was from the future, she

may become dismayed. After all, he was 'proof' that Shampoo didn't get

Ranma, and _that_ he guessed, would start trouble rolling along again like

it did the last time she... no... her counterpart found out about things.

What to say, what to say... Suddenly, he had it all figured out.

"I've been banished to the past by someone using magic." It wasn't a

total lie... he somehow banished himself.

Cologne sensed truth hidden behind carefully placed words, something

she wasn't used to hearing from young people. The boy was sharp indeed.

Now, if he was from the future...

"Tell me," she said, casually, as if in pleasant conversation, "how

is my Shampoo doing in the future, hm?"

Ryo smiled. "She's my step-mother."

Cologne's smile grew. "Is that so... and do you have any sisters,

perhaps?"

"I do. Her name is Spring. She's very much like her mother...

you're quite fond of her too." More half-truths, but he didn't see any

other way to go. From experience, he knew that he couldn't be a boyscout,

not when dealing with her. Now, to add the hook, another half-truth.

"She's been thrown into the past as well, although I don't know where she

was sent to now. I just want to bring us back to our home."

"She is not in this time with you?" Cologne asked, a little worried

about her future heir.

"No. When I last saw her, she disappeared in a flash of blue light.

The same thing happened to me later."

Sensing truth behind those words as she eyed his body language,

breathing, tone of voice, and all other signs of truth/lie telling,

Cologne grunted in satisfaction. Of course, she knew that her Shampoo

would get son-in-law in his proper place, but it was nice to confirm it

anyways. It was unfortunate that Ranma had apparently had an affair which

produced this boy first, but she cared mostly for the end results.

"About, um, time travel?" prodded Ryo.

"Hm? Oh, yes." She inhaled deeply from her pipe, then continued.

"There is one artifact... it is called the Nanban Mirror. According to

legend, it can bring a person to any place at any time. It was also

supposed to be mildly inaccurate at times."

[Bingo.]

"Can this mirror be used to create something else?" asked Ryo,

allowing himself to trust her fully. He knew she'd pick up on the body

language, and give answers more freely.

"Create something else? Like what?"

"The person that sent us here used a locket of some sort. I almost

took it from him... but as you can see," he said, showing his burned palm

and the impression of the locket within it, "I didn't quite succeed."

"Oh, did the locket do that?" queried Cologne, looking at his injury.

"Yes, those are burn marks of a magical nature indeed." She thought for a

moment, putting together the facts of the case. "I suppose... one could

use a -piece- of the mirror, but it's only in theory." She hmmed for a

moment, then asked, "so you think your enemy has used the Nanban Mirror to

create a new object?

Ryo nodded solemnly.

Curious as to who could have done such things, she asked, "Who is

this enemy of yours?"

"Ryo Muhoshin," he half-lied. "Have you ever heard of him?"

"No, sorry."

"And... where is the mirror?" asked Ryo.

"Stolen."

"What?!"

"Many years ago, a twisted little man came through our village. He

chased the women, stealing our undergarments and other things of interest.

Amongst the missing items was the Nanban mirror."

Suspicion crept into Ryo's mind. This sounded familiar. "This...

sounds like Happosai."

"It does, doesn't it sonny boy?" Cologned grinned.

"Does he..."

"Well, there's one way to find out, obviously." It was fairly clear

to him what she had in mind: he had to take on Happosai. That was

something he felt he had much practice in. But it was persuading the

little letch to hand over the mirror that might be the problem. If worse

came to worse, he decided, he'd tear the old man's room upside down.

"Thanks for the help... Great-great-grandstepmother."

"Good luck, boy," Cologne warned, "He's a tricky one."

As Ryo departed, Cologne called Shampoo to her.

"Great-grand-daughter, I have a task for you. Keep an eye on the one

that just left. Check in on him occasionally. He tells me the truth, and

yet hides something..."

Ryo Saotome fiddled around with a pen, lost in thought.

He needed the Nanban mirror to make a locket (THE locket?). That much

was obvious. The problem? It was the freak's mirror. Cologne herself had

admitted as much, along with the fact that the Amazons hadn't been able to

reclaim it. Considering how powerful an artifact it was, and how weighty

the combined strength of the Joketsuzoku, that said a lot for Happosai's

tenacity.

How DID one go about tricking a geriatric, demonic martial arts

master into giving up his prized possession?

Several thoughts flew through his head, only to be promptly

discarded. They all seemed fine, all beautiful and perfect, but one tiny

detail, like the fact that he wasn't invincible or invisible, eventually

spoiled each his plans.

[Blast.]

Barring paradoxes, the fact that he'd already USED the locket meant

that he would be successful.

Eventually.

It was a bit of a comfort to know that he'd manage it somehow, yes,

but for the moment, he was stumped.

Ryo's mind went in circles, reconsidering the options. There must

have been _something_ he hadn't thought of; _something_ he'd overlooked.

He thought of sneaking into Happosai's room, but the threat of

discovery was too great - and not just by the midget. Half the female

population of Nerima ALREADY thought of him as a pervert; finding him

sifting through what would likely be mountains of soiled lingerie would

hardly improve his image.

To use Shampoo as glomp-bait was tempting - VERY tempting - but it

also had its complications. True, any hentai worth his 'H' would latch

onto her on sight, leaving a perfect opening, but

a) Happi would probably not carry the Mirror around with him, and

b) He would have to give the blue-haired Amazon an... ah...

'incentive' to do as she was told. Shampoo had ALREADY mistaken him for

Ranma. If he encouraged her physically, who KNEW what she might do?

Ryo suppressed a shudder.

What ELSE could he try?

There was a shiatsu spot for nearly everything else - could there be

one he could learn to paralyze the freak long enough to get the Mirror?

"Maybe Doctor Tofu can teach one to me," he mumbled, still nibbling

on his fingers and staring intently at the pavement.

"Doctor who?" Without his noticing it, Shampoo had walked out of the

restaurant and joined him.

Ryo blinked.

"What did you say?"

"That what Shampoo ask, silly boy!"

"No! I mean... What were your exact words?"

"Silly boy talk doctor, but he no sick. Shampoo no understand."

"I didn't think you would."

But _he_ did. [Thanks, Shampoo.] It was absurd, but so was the whole

situation he was in. Ryo shrugged mentally; fight fire with fire.

He scanned the horizon until he found the Furinkan clock. Two

minutes to five.

A grin spread across his face. It was perfect. Absolutely perfect.

Saying a quick prayer under his breath and hoping that his intuition

was right, he grabbed Shampoo by the wrist and bounded towards the bridge

over the canal where it had all begun.

With any luck, the setting would also mark the beginning of the end

to this adventure, and in just a few more hours he'd be with Bell-Chan.

Apparently, thinking of his fiancee had made him 'friendly' with his

grip, for Shampoo, far from complaining at being dragged across the

streets, merely smiled complacently and snuggled up to him when they

reached the bridge.

Ukyou's son blushed and quickly let go of her hand. She was... Meant

for another.

[And so am I.]

"You take Shampoo on date, foolish boy?"

"Not quite."

"You want date Shampoo, you have beat me first. Want try?" The

Amazon's eyes narrowed, and she smiled wickedly. "Long time no good

workout."

[Forty seconds 'til Furinkan's five-o'clock chime.]

Might as well.

Ryo took a few steps backward and assumed a battle stance, watching

with satisfaction as the purple-haired warrior did the same.

[Thirty, twenty-nine...]

They circled around each other.

[Nineteen, eighteen...]

Ryo imperceptibly shifted the focus of their orbit to the bridge's

central drainage grate.

[Three, two, one...]

As the clock struck five, Happosai appeared in between the

combatants, holding an object which glowed with a familiar light.

[Right on time.]

Before the midget could notice, Ryo snatched the Mirror and got out

of the way to allow his companion to punt the wretch into low earth orbit.

Shampoo stood wide-eyed for a minute, then regained her composure.

"Where pervert come from?"

"Under a cabbage leaf?"

The blue-haired girl stared at him with a blank expression on her

face.

Ryo sighed, shook his head and tucked the mirror under his arm as he

started towards the doujou.

It was going to be a _long_ evening.

Childra's legs carried her away as quickly as they could, for her

mind was too distraught to navigate. Swiftly they led her, over concrete,

grass and narrow fence, through bushes and now-well-kept fields, on an

all-too familiar route that was altogether new.

While she traveled, Jansen barely spared a thought to see the changed

(or pre-changed?) town - to notice the dirt, the litter or the gloriously

suggestive billboards, the absence of hovercars and geodesic domes. The

only metamorphosis, the only loss she was concerned about, was that within

herself and of Ishido.

Had she gone too quickly?

Her pace sped up.

Had she frightened him, or pushed him past his natural capacities of

giving? He was... shy, and new at nature's game; to him, intimacy meant

far more - perhaps she had blasphemed against some hidden code? Perhaps

she'd hit a mental barrier, perhaps...

Perhaps he had a wife?

A wall where she remembered none forced the woman to turn a corner,

but a small bee-line later she was back on familiar ground.

That he might have had another didn't matter; he had told her so. Or

had _she_ told _him_?

What if there was someone that he cared for, someone that he loved

far more than her, and that their tryst had reawakened memories of. What

if he felt a calling in his heart that he could not ignore, what if...

Her limbs were now oscillating for all their worth, straining

themselves in a painful way. They were doing their best, her physical

parts. The poor amalgamations of tendon, flesh, bone and skin just failed

to realize... They could take her away from the drink, from the bed, and

from the man, but from her SELF...

That she could never run from, were she as fast as light itself.

[Or faster,] she managed to chuckle, recalling her recent time-travel

experiences.

Her mirth faded quickly, but it lasted enough to find her at her

destination.

The Nerima graveyard.

It was much the same as when she'd left it, only smaller, with more

space between the rows of markers.

Wide, roughly-carved stone steps led up a small hill to a plain iron

gate, with a legend above and no lock, beyond which lay a path strewn

generously with white pebbles.

Childra climbed the steps slowly, pushing against her knee with her

hand to rise over each stone.

At length, her silent footfalls gave way to the crunch of her boots

on the cemetery's path.

Out of habit, she called out.

"Akane?"

No one answered, of course. The girl of that name here was not the

woman that she knew a hundred years from another now.

No one else answered, either. No translucent shapes smiled weakly

back, no transparent shades walked melancholy between graves - every

spirit, every body buried here was perfectly at peace.

Except for her.

Another grim smile.

Yes, she was more spectre now than were the ones whose names were

carved upon the obelisks, and she felt more like dust than the ashes

placed beneath them.

Like a ghost, she was trapped in between - she didn't know whether

she was alive, as she had felt last night, or dead; whether her existence

would forever be a reliving of a memory, a regretful fawning-over of a

moment when all had seemed Right, or whether like, in a fairy-tale, she'd

be allowed to live her dream.

Why couldn't he tell her? Why did he have to run away, to leave

unanswered all her questions? If he didn't want her, if Ishido thought

her an old fool, why didn't he say so?

She knew why.

He was too polite, too honorable - it was one of the things she liked

best in him. He was uncomfortable with eloquence when his feelings would

bring joy, but if he knew they'd bring her grief, for him to speak them'd

be unthinkable.

And yet, and yet...

And yet, it was just as likely that her lobishomem was confused.

Perhaps he, like her, felt within himself a wild beast being tamed?

Perhaps the wolf was struggling against a new-found feeling of acceptance,

and... Domestication?

Childra swept the dust off a large, flat marker and sat herself down,

pulling her jacket close around her to keep out the chilly breeze.

The pictures that her choice of metaphors had brought to mind -

Ishido in a leash and collar - were almost - ALMOST enough to dispel her

grief, but the howling of the wind, and the ambience of gloom surrounding

her soon brought her back to her melancholy.

The wind evaporated the tears from her cheeks as quickly as they came

down, cooling her flushed face. It was a cold and heavy wind, matched by

a dark sky and rustling treetops - it'd rain again today.

She'd wait it out.

What were her choices, after all?

Stay here, catch pneumonia, maybe become this Nerima's first resident

ghost, or go back to the others and face her judgement.

Certain misery, or a fifty-fifty chance of bliss?

Childra sneezed, wiped her lower eyelids dry, then reached for her

jacket's lapels-

And never touched the leather. Instead the coarse cloth of a

man's shirt draped over her back.

"It'll keep you warm," said a familiar voice from behind.

She spun around.

"Ishido?"

A smile, made all the more beautiful by his saddened, violet eyes.

"Am I the one who's made you sad?" he oh-so-gently asked, but more

than what his spoke, it was his eyes that told her volumes, for with each

word a brighter lacrimal reflection from those orbs would lessen that of

her own.

She answered him in that same language, of the body and not of words.

With a grin just the right size and an eyebrow partly raised, she took his

shirt from her back and wrapped it 'round their necks as she pressed

herself against him and held his head firmly with both hands.

As they kissed, it began to rain, but it was now only the sky that

cried.

o/" Another Saturday night and I ain't got nobody. I got some money

'cause I just got paid. How I wish I had someone to talk to, I'm in a

awful way. o/"

The sound of 50's American Pop Rock flowed quietly through the radio

at Ucchans, while its owner looked wistfully out the front windows,

sighing with a melancholy hanging over her heart.

The future didn't seem to be going her way. To be more exact, it

wasn't going the way she wanted it to go.

It was primarily that dream she had a while back that was disturbing

her deeply. She felt entirely too comfortable for her liking when she

woke up from it. It couldn't be because she really was in love with the

lost boy. No, she definitely didn't love him. _Not yet_ nagged a part of

her mind that she quickly shut off.

She grabbed at a broom and began cleaning the floor, falling into a

peaceful trance with the repetitive motion of sweeping. Twilight fell into

darkness, matching her mood quite well.

And then she heard someone groaning.

Her martial artist reflexes took control, and she reflexively reached

for her battle spatula and slowly made her way to the back room. The

groaning was continuing, definitely somewhere in the back area. She

became angered as she walked further. It seemed as if the intruder made

it all the way into her personal living quarters.

Whoever this jerk was, he was in serious trouble.

Then, a rather interesting thought crossed her mind. That lady,

Childra, she and her boyfriend Ishido might have made up and...

Oh my.

She blushed, brushing that thought aside. If that was them, she'd be

hearing _two_ people making noise.

That thought didn't help her blush go down any.

As Ukyou walked down the narrow hallway in her living quarters, she

saw the light to the bathroom was on. For some unexplainable reason, the

thought of Childra, Ishido, and a plunger briefly flashed in her mind. She

QUICKLY got rid of that mental image and banged on the door violently.

"Hey! Who's in there?!"

There was no answer.

She slammed her fist forward to knock again, and ended up slugging

someone's face, just as they opened the door.

"Ow."

Ukyou looked down at the person she'd just slugged, now sprawled on

the floor. "YOU!"

"Ow," he managed to say.

"What," she began to ask, looking distinctly annoyed, "are you doing

in my bathroom?" Ukyou paused for a second before snatching a long rod

from Ryouga's hand. "And WHAT were you doing with my PLUNGER?!"

"I was using it," said Ryouga. "All I did was-"

Ukyou waved him into silence, her face colouring as she remembered

the moans of a few minutes earlier.

"I do NOT want to know," she pronounced.

"I... etou... anou..." The lost boy looked around himself, then back

at Ukyou.

"This isn't the Tendo doujou, is it?"

"Sorry, sugar, wrong house," said she.

"Oh..." said he.

And so they just stood there, in silence.

"Um..." said Ukyou, trying to think of something to say, "so where

were you before you got here?"

"I was at the Tendo Dojo," said Ryouga, "trying to..."

Ukyou frowned as Ryouga's dialogue faded again into silence.

"Trying to... what?" she asked. She stopped walking, leaving the two

in the main restaurant area with her standing up and him making his way to

a seat now that he sensed that a talk was about to start.

"It's not important," he said, sighing. "Not anymore, anyways."

"Hey, what's with you?"

"It doesn't matter what I do anymore," said Ryouga sadly, "I mean...

the future... you know..."

"Hey," said Ukyou, looking a little peeved, "there's no reason to

give up on Akane yet!"

"But Miyabi... she's... and Ratiko... he's our..."

"*DON'T EVEN* bring up Ratiko," said Ukyou firmly. "Besides, I had a

son with Ranma, didn't I?"

"You..."

"Ryo, remember?"

"Oh yeah, him." Ryouga seemed to be thinking for a moment, then

looked into Ukyou's eyes. "You really think... I still have a chance with

Akane?"

"Of course you do!" said Ukyou enthusiastically.

"I, ah, hope things aren't too bad for you here," said Akane somewhat

nervously.

"It's... getting a little better, mom," said Miyabi, walking next to

her. "Actually, I'm kind of worried about tonight."

Akane sighed and shook her head. "What are we going to do about

tonight?

"Don't worry, mum," said Miyabi, "I'm sure everything will turn out

all right." She was sure of that, actually. She had a Plan. If Ratiko

and Ryo could run around trying to make things right, why shouldn't she?

Those jerks were doing the Wrong Thing anyways... she'd succeed, and

heaven help anyone who'd get in her way.

Mum belonged with Father, that was certain and she'd make sure it was

so. She'd do the same for Auntie Ukyou and Uncle Ryouga, Auntie Kasumi

and Uncle Tofu, and all the rest.

After all, everyone would be happier that way, right?

And speaking of couples...

"Mum, could we stop in here for a while?"

"You... want to go in there?" asked Akane hesitantly, pointing to

Ucchan's Okonomiyaki.

"I want to visit Auntie Ukyou," she said, matter-of-factly.

"You got along well with her, I guess?" wondered Akane.

"Mm-hm." Miyabi allowed herself a small smile. It was time to start

her work.

"C'mon, Ryouga, let's go," said Ukyou with determination.

"Go? Go where?" wondered Ryouga.

"Ranma's still single and so's Akane, right? Let's get to work."

"Hi guys!" greeted Akane cheerfully as she entered the room. Ryouga

seemed to brighten up and Ukyou had a crafty look in her eyes.

And then someone else came in.

"Uncle Ryouga, Aunt Ukyou, hi."

Both of them winced and felt a small chill of fear as Miyabi walked

in, followed by Akane. It wasn't that they hated the girl. She was

actually quite likeable. The problem was that she symbolized their worst

fear come true, and then some.

Miyabi's small grin increased just a little more as she noticed the

discomfort of the two. That meant that they'd be easy to fluster.

"Oh," said Miyabi, "I didn't know the two of you were here alone."

"It's not-" stuttered Ukyou.

"We weren't-" babbled Ryouga.

"You two didn't start dating till much later, I think..."

"Miyabi," interrupted an embarrassed Akane, "let's not talk about

that right now, okay?"

"Okay, mum," sighed Miyabi. "Auntie Ukyou, could you cook some of

your okonomiyaki?"

"Coming right up," said Ukyou. As she walked past Ryouga, she leaned

down and whispered in his ear, "Akane's here and without Ranma. Get to

work!"

Ryouga nodded firmly to himself as Ukyou walked away, then stood up

and tried to march over to Akane. Unfortunately, Miyabi got in the way as

she sat right between Ryouga and Akane.

"I just noticed," said Miyabi casually, "that your daughter is a lot

like you."

"My... daughter?"

"Mm-hm. Saeko."

Ryouga's face was unreadable, a blank slate. His mind, however, was

undergoing a brief and almost real time warp...

"Honey, I'm back!" announced Ryouga as he staggered into his happy

home. He carefully placed his backpack and umbrella on the floor, then

untied his worn shoes.

"Ryouga! Welcome home!" Ryouga felt two soft arms wrap around him

in an embrace and he felt her soft breath on the back of his neck.

"Pappa!" A small, fanged, and bandanna clad bundle of energy latched

unto him from the front. Ryouga returned his daughter's embrace.

"Saeko-chan, Ucchan, sorry I was lost for so long," said Ryouga, "I

brought you something from Belgium..."

"Oh, it's okay if you get lost now and then," said Ukyou sweetly, "as

long as you come back to us like you always do."

"Um... is he okay?" wondered Miyabi.

"He does seem to do that sometimes," commented Akane.

"Uncle Ryouga? Hello? Uncle Ryoooouga?"

"Huh? Wha?" Ryouga blinked, startled, and nearly fell off his seat.

"Are you okay, Uncle?" asked Miyabi.

"Aheh, um, yeah, just fine."

"You know... you and Auntie Ukyou used to cook together all the

time," said Miyabi, "Why don't you help her now?"

"No, I'd rather not, I mean, I need to talk to Akane and, um, hey

wait a minute," protested Ryouga weakly as Miyabi shoved him gently but

firmly towards the okonomiyaki grill. Akane sensed what her daughter was

up to and walked along, following the two.

Ukyou sensed what was going on too and she was less than pleased. As

Ryouga stood next to Ukyou in a numb sort of state, she elbowed him and

whispered, "What are you doing here, moron!"

"She said I should help you cook..." said Ryouga weakly.

"Since when are you taking orders from Ranma and Akane's kid?" hissed

Ukyou in return.

"I..."

"Oh, just shut up and cut these," snapped Ukyou, handing Ryouga a

chopping block, a knife, and some vegetables. Things weren't going to her

liking at all and it put her in a very irritated mood. First, she needed

to get that weak-willed idiot Ryouga into Akane's arms, DESPITE Miyabi's

presence. _No, now isn't the right time to go into action_ she concluded.

Not with Miyabi around. She just... complicated things with her presence

alone.

Resigned with the conclusion that nothing else could be achieved at

the moment, Ukyou allowed herself to become hypnotized and calmed by the

repetitive motions of cooking okonomiyaki as she prepared the ingredients

and fired up the grill.

Then she felt it. Something was _wrong_.

She looked towards Ryouga, who seemed to be blushing. He glanced at

Akane for a brief moment, while she wasn't looking, then glanced at her.

As their two eyes locked, Ryouga quickly looked away while Ukyou blinked,

puzzled at his behaviour.

Then she noticed what the two Tendo girls were doing. Akane sat by

the grill next to Miyabi, and they were in not-so-quiet conversation. With

little effort, Ukyou listened to them.

"Well, I think it started back at this vacation a few months back,"

said Akane. "There was this cave..."

"Oh, that?" replied Miyabi, "Aunt Ukyou told me all about that. It's

the first time they started behaving like a couple, she said."

Ukyou frowned. No, this was NOT good. Not good at all.

"You know, they're already behaving like they used to," observed

Miyabi. "Notice how they're already working together? And looking at

each other when they don't think they're being watched?"

Ukyou blushed, embarrassed that Miyabi'd been right about her

observations so far. She couldn't help but peek at Ryouga, wondering how

he was holding up to the situation, and it was clear he was every bit as

embarrassed as her, if not more. She was caught off balance as Ryouga

quickly looked towards her and their eyes were locked once more, then they

both looked away feeling nervous.

"Ow!"

Ow? Ukyou wondered what happened and turned around to see Ryouga

holding his bloodied thumb.

"Ryouga!" she gasped, "Are you alright?"

"Y-yeah... I just cut myself," he replied, looking only at his cut

thumb.

"Is there anything we can do?" wondered Akane.

"In the back room there's a first aid kit under the sink," said

Ukyou. "Could you go get it?"

Without a word, Akane quickly departed while Miyabi looked on,

cringing at the sight of her uncle's self-inflicted wound.

"You never used to be that clumsy," she said, puzzled.

"Lemme see how bad it is," said Ukyou as Akane returned, placing the

first aid kit on the counter. "Nice cut, sugar."

"I know, I know, just give me a band-aid, will you?" snapped Ryouga.

"Not so fast, gotta put iodine on it first," chided Ukyou.

"Iodine?" The word was vaguely familiar to him.

Miyabi smiled a little more, pleased to see one relationship

blossoming as she thought it should.

"See?" she said to Akane, "they're like a couple already."

Unfortunately, she said this just as Ukyou held an iodine-soaked

cloth over Ryouga's wound. It could be said that she accidentally pressed

down a little too hard.

"OOOOOOOOOOOW!"

If one asked Ryouga, he'd say she pressed down entirely too hard.

"What'd you do that for?" snapped Ryouga.

"Oh, stop crying, you big baby," snapped back Ukyou. She turned her

attention to the ingredients around her and noted with considerable

disgust that Ryouga had managed to bleed on quite a few of the

ingredients.

"I... think there's gonna be a problem with the okonomiyaki," said

Ukyou. "If you don't mind waiting a little while, I'll-"

"Actually, you don't have to worry about it," said Miyabi with a

peculiar look. Ukyou didn't like that look. She recognized that look,

except usually it was on Ranma. It was the kind of look that said 'I have

a plan'.

"Mum, can Uncle Ryouga and Auntie Ukyou come to dinner tonight?"

asked Miyabi.

"I..." Akane hesitated. She didn't want to be rude to Ukyou or

Ryouga, but then again, it was going to be complicated enough with Miyabi

and Nodoka there.

"Please, mum?" pleaded Miyabi.

"Well... if they want to go," she conceded.

"You can come over tonight, can't you Auntie? Uncle?"

"Er..." managed Ryouga.

"Well..." stalled Ukyou. No, this wasn't going well at all. The

situation was being influenced entirely too easily by Miyabi and not at

all by her. Not good. But... Ranma would be there tonight... and so

would Akane... and Miyabi can't be everywhere at once, can she?

"We'll go," said Ukyou firmly.

"We will?" asked a befuddled Ryouga.

"Great!" said Miyabi, feeling inwardly happy that things were rolling

in the way that she wanted them to for once. "Come by around... eight

tonight, okay? Don't forget!"

"Oh, we won't," reassured Ukyou, "we'll be there."

After 'mother and daughter' left, Ryouga yelled, "WHY are we going

there tonight?!"

"Because Ranma will be there, and Akane will be there. With their

'daughter' around, those two just might be getting ideas, and I want to be

there to put a stop to it."

"Oh, I see."

"Are you with me on this, Ryouga?"

Ryouga nodded solemnly. They shook hands firmly.

"OOOOOOOOOW!"

"Oops, forgot about the thumb. Sorry about that."

"What have you seen so far, Great-granddaughter?"

"Strange boy that look like Ranma go to Tendo home, nothing else,"

said Shampoo. "Talk something about doctor, Shampoo not make sense of

what he say."

"Doctor, eh? I guess he might enlist in the aid of Doctor Tofu... a

wise choice for an ally. I wonder what he's up to."

*RIIIIIING*RIIII-

"Nekohanten, Shampoo talking, help you?"

Cologne contemplated her next move idly... she wasn't sure of this

future boy warranted that much focus from her, but then again it was often

the little things that brought empires down.

"Great-grandmother? Where Mousse?"

Shampoo wanted to know where Mousse was? Cologne raised an eyebrow

and frowned slightly.

"What do you need that fool for?"

"He invited to Tendo home tonight for dinner, with Shampoo."

Cologne grinned. "Oooh, is that so?"

[a few hours later...]

The doujou was strangely empty of teenagers. Ryo frowned at the

silence; it meant his fellow time travelers were somewhere else, almost

assuredly causing more chaos. [Everyone is so set on achieving their own

agenda that they don't care about the damage they could be causing this

world's future. And I don't have time to track them down.]

Light glinted off the cracked surface of the Nanban Mirror. "Well, I

don't." he snapped at the Joketsuzoku artifact. "And I can't afford to

make the time. I have to... make time."

Ryo shook his head at the irony, then continued creeping through the

house. Happosai came first, then a crash course in transdimensional magic

followed by a manhunt across a countless number of worlds. Only then

could he sit down and try to undo whatever his "companions" had done.

Bell-chan and home seemed farther away all the time.

A tear trickled down his cheek. [None of that,] he told himself

sternly as he brushed it away with the back of his free hand. [I can't

afford to lose control. I need to stay focused.]

He blinked his eyes, then realized he was standing in front of

Happosai's door. [The light's out.] Ryo put his ear to the door and

listened. [And I don't hear anything. I guess I'm lucky, and he's

outside somewhere. Well, I don't have to lie my way through a stupid

story now. I just need to do a bit of forgery.]

The door was locked, but Ryo was half expecting this. [Since no one

is around, I don't have to be sneaky any more.] One Bakusai-Tenketsu later

he stepped through a cloud of wood splinters and reached for the light

switch.

The room was a jac-daw's nest, filled with the clutter of decades.

Happosai was a greedy thief, a dragon hoarding his possessions just for

the sake of hoarding them. Ill-obtained unmentionables filled every

drawer and covered every surface, but Ryo ignored them. It was magic he

was after, and the ancient hentai had more than enough of that for his

purposes.

An alchemist's kit lay buried under a discarded P-chan costume; Ryo

threw the pig suit away. A tattered, tea-ring-stained book was stuffed

under the broken leg of a table, giving the surface the approximation of

being level. Ryo swept the table aside; there was a muffled crash as a

lamp hit a pile of used underwear and broke, plunging the room into a

crazy half-darkness.

"Nec... Necro..." Ryo tried to puzzle out the title, but his Latin

was as bad as his grandfather's Chinese. He slowly opened the tome; the

illustration on the first page alone caused his soul to shake. The

cartoonish doodling in Happosai's hand made a picture of depraved evil

that much more frightening.

Hurriedly, Ryo shut the book and shoved it away. "I can't use that."

He searched the room some more, but his eyes were drawn back to the

hastily discarded grimoire.

[I _do_ need a handwriting sample,] he rationalized.

The open book was in his hands, and the pig-tailed boy was sitting

cross-legged on the floor studying its pages. Somehow the words made

sense; it was if the book wanted to help him. He had to fight to tear his

eyes away from the spidery calligraphy. It was Happosai's notes he needed

now, scribbled in the margins and between the lines.

Whatever magic the book worked on itself did not extend to the

wizened pervert's handwriting. Ryo's eyes tied themselves in knots as he

tried to follow Happosai's work. "I think I can do it," he said slowly.

Ryo pulled a handkerchief from his back pocket and spread it flat

across one of the pages of the book. With exaggerated care he wrote a

note to Happosai, using the hentai's own handwriting and spelling.

I'm you from the fyucher, so yud better pay attenshun, 'cuz I'm older

than you. Be at the bridge over the canal when the Furinkan clock strikes

five, on the XX of XX, 1996, or a hooribel monster will steel all our

silky treasures. -H. P.S. This means USE THE MIRROR. -H.

He almost crossed out "monster" in favor of "Cologne," but he caught

himself before giving in to the impulse. [This isn't the same Cologne. I

can't hold her responsible for what her counterpart did, and who knows

what the consequences for this world would be.]

Ryo suddenly realized a flaw in his plan. "Now where do I put this

thing so he'll find it right away? If I set it anywhere, it'll just get

lost in this mess. Aargh! Why didn't I think of this before?"

"Is anything wrong?" Kasumi asked. She stood in the hallway, in the

midst of the remains of Happosai's door. "I heard you shout."

"No!" Ryo snapped as he looked up. "Yes," he amended in a softer

voice. "Everything. But there's nothing you can do to help."

"I can help straighten up this mess," the eldest Tendo girl told him.

She walked into the room and began sorting through Happosai's collection

of stolen panties.

"Wait!" Ryo began blushing. Happosai was the greatest pervert on

the face of the planet, and Kasumi the most innocent woman this world had

to offer. There were some things she should not see.

Kasumi saw how red her would-be son-in-law had become. "It's just

dirty laundry," she told him. "Nothing I don't see every day."

"Oh." Ryo looked around. Kasumi's attitude put Happosai's

collection in a new light.

"Just what is it you were looking for?" the eldest Tendo girl asked.

"Does it have something to do with that mirror you're hiding behind your

back?"

"Uh." Expediency and honesty waged war in Ryo's mind, fought to a

bloody standstill, and reached a compromise after throwing guilt all

across his heart. "I just needed some of the Master's tools. He wasn't

in, and I, uh, knocked a bit harder than I needed to." The guilt made

that part of the lie easier; it, at least, was honest. "I wanted to leave

him a note telling him what I'd been up to." Ryo shrugged. "But I

couldn't find a place to put it."

"I could give the note to Happosai for you."

Expediency broke the truce and launched a second wave. "No thank

you. Now that you've cleaned everything up, I'll just leave the note

right here." He stood up and patted the broken-legged table. And now I

need to get to work, or why bother writing a note in the first place."

Kasumi brushed her hands on her apron. "As you wish." She turned to

leave, the stopped. "Miyabi has invited all of Ranma and Akane's friends

over for tonight. Dinner is at eight."

"Great."

If Kasumi heard the sarcasm in Ryo's voice she ignored it. "Yes,

it's always so entertaining when company comes over. Now don't get so

busy working that you forget."

"I won't forget."

Kasumi left. Ryo slowly sank to his knees, being careful to set the

mirror face down on the floor. He couldn't hold the tears back any more,

and the last thing he needed was for the mirror to send him somewhen else.

For a moment, Genma Saotome looked ruefully at the darkening sky,

hearing the distant rumble of thunder and seeing especially dark patches

of clouds in the near distance that surely meant rain was falling

elsewhere.

He sighed, cursed fate, cursed magic, and cursed his son's foolish

actions. He would've vocalized these curses, except that pandas didn't do

that sort of thing. So instead he just vented by waving around signs and

growling angrily at the dark and rumbling skies.

"Oh my, Mr. Panda seems to be acting so peculiar," said Nodoka.

"He's just so silly sometimes," replied Kasumi.

The two laughed in that certain easy going, gentle manner that

somehow reassures people that all is well with the universe.

"How odd, I usually see Mr. Panda playing with Ranko," observed

Nodoka. She amazingly failed to notice the panda freezing in its tracks

and looking very nervous.

"Kasumi-chan, where is Ranko?"

"I'm sure she's around here somewhere."

Nodoka watched idly in the panda's direction, lost in her thoughts.

For some odd reason, Mr. Panda reacted oddly to this, playing with his

beach ball and tire more frantically and occasionally waving a big sign

that said /I'm just a panda!/

"Ranko-chan," said Nodoka wistfully, "if I had a daughter... I think

I'd like her to be like Ranko."

Unseen by them both, Miyabi peered from around the edge of the room,

sighing.

"Oh, baachan..."

Unseen and unheard, she crept up the stairs to her 'mother's' room.

"Father, grandmother is here," said Miyabi as she entered the room.

Akane was looking nervously at Ranma-chan, who was looking out the window

in a numb sort of state.

"Mother's here," said Ranma quietly, just staring at the setting sun,

immersed in his own melancholy. "Mother's here... what am I going to do?"

"Maybe... maybe it's time to tell her?" wondered Miyabi. "I mean, in

the future, when she found out, she accepted it."

Ranma's expression changed slightly, considering the idea for a

moment.

"No," said Akane quietly, "not yet."

"Mum?" asked Miyabi, surprised. "Why not?"

"I... I mean, we're not sure if... maybe it's too soon..."

"But..."

"I don't want Ranma to die," she said quietly. "I... he can't take

that chance, not yet."

Ranma turned slightly towards Akane, a trace of a smile on her

otherwise gloomy face.

"Akane... thanks."

It was the slightest of eye contact, but once it began they seemed

unable to break it. Their sidewards glance became a full

gazing-into-the-eyes, neither sure what to say. The old cliche of two

hearts beating as one would probably apply here.

Were Soun or Genma there, they'd surely ruin the moment by sobbing in

happiness, violently hugging the kids, or dancing around with fans and

confetti.

*sniffle*

Ranma blinked. Akane blinked. They both turned slowly towards

Miyabi, who looked on the verge of tears and smiling.

"You two... look so good together... *sniffle* Sorry, was I

interrupting something?"

Inside, Miyabi was jumping for joy. Her parents *were* in love with

each other here! For that brief moment, the two of them seemed so...

so... she had no idea what the word was, but there was a sort of

togetherness thing going on there.

Something like that anyways.

And once all the people she invited came over, things should _really_

get better. With a little luck, she'd get everything settled for

everyone, and they'd live happily ever after.

"Akane! Ranko! Miyabi! Time for dinner!"

Miyabi brightened, Akane sighed, and Ranma's face was somewhat

panic-stricken.

"Ranma? What's wrong?" wondered Akane.

"It'll never work... she's too old to be my daughter... Pop's right!

I'm gonna die! I can't go out there!"

*WHAM*

Miyabi always wondered how her mother did that thing with the mallet.

Seeing it again up close didn't help.

"Did you really have to do that, mum?" wondered Miyabi.

"He was getting hysterical," said Akane, shrugging. "Come on, Ranma,

time to go downstairs... and hope things work for the best."

Miyabi headed downstairs, followed by Akane, dragging an unconscious

Ranma-chan by the pigtail.

Fortunately, they were spared from the dreaded meeting in the dining

room when something loud got everyone's attention at the front gate...

"I hope this works out," said Ryouga, walking behind Ukyou as they

made their way through Nerima en route to the Tendo Dojo.

"Just stick by Akane, no matter what. Got that?" nagged Ukyou.

She continued walking onward... then realized Ryouga had never

answered. Muttering a curse, she turned around, jogged back a bit, then

dragged Ryouga by his shirt.

"Wrong way, stupid!"

"Hey, don't pull so hard!"

"Don't you get lost on me tonight, you jackass," snapped Ukyou,

poking Ryouga in the chest roughly. "Are you ready to say what you need

to say to Akane?"

Ryouga blinked numbly. "Say? Say what?"

"Tonight you're telling her how you feel, remember?!"

"Wait a minute! Since when was this part of the plan?" asked Ryouga,

feeling himself go cold.

"Well, how ELSE do you expect to get anywhere with her, stupid?"

"But it's, I mean, I can't, too soon, not sure, what if she, I mean,

maybe not yet, I-"

*CLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANG*

"Snap out of it!" yelled Ukyou, peeling her spatula from Ryouga's

head.

"S-sorry... I guess I lost my head there for a moment."

"Ryouga... _can_ you tell Akane how you feel?" wondered Ukyou. "You

HAVE to tell her tonight, you know."

"But... but I don't know if I can... I mean..."

"What's your problem?" wondered Ukyou. "It's easy to do! Just say,

'Akane, I love you!', or 'Akane, I care about you!' or something like

that."

"But..." said Ryouga, looking flustered. He did a brief imitation of

a goldfish, his jaw flapping as he tried to find something to say to argue

the point, then he sighed and turned away.

"I don't understand how you do it," said Ryouga, "you, Mousse,

Shampoo..."

"Do what?" wondered Ukyou. She wasn't sure what to make of it at the

moment, but if the comparison of her and *SHAMPOO* went too far, she

silently declared she'd maul the Lost Boy.

"Throw yourself at the person you love," answered Ryouga.

"Oh... well... I mean... I just love him," answered Ukyou, not sure

of what else to say.

"Aren't you afraid?" asked Ryouga.

"Afraid? Afraid of what?"

"Afraid..." he hesitated as he looked up at the stars that slowly

began to decorate the night skies, "afraid they might not feel the same

way."

Ukyou watched, fascinated, as Ryouga showed a side of himself she had

never seen before. She'd seen the revenge-driven berzerker, the babbling

love-struck fool, and the nervous-because-I'm-with-Akane Ryouga... but not

this one.

This Ryouga before her was... he was scared, vulnerable, and lonely.

"Sugar, you've gotta try," said Ukyou, putting a hand on Ryouga's

shoulder. "C'mon, practice it a little."

"Akane, I... I l-lo... I love... ah..."

"Okay, maybe using the word _love_ might be a bit too strong at this

point... try something like 'I care about you'."

"Akane, I ca... I..." Ryouga turned around, facing Ukyou once more,

and sighed. "Aaagh, it's no use! I just can't do it!"

"Dammit, Ryouga, it's not that hard!" yelled Ukyou. "Ranma, I love

you. There, see? Easy."

Ryouga merely turned away and grumbled. This was a bad thing to do

at the time, especially with Ukyou's patience wearing thin.

Without warning, she grabbed him by the collar and shook him

violently, yelling, "SAY IT! SAY IT! SAAAAAAAAAAY IT!"

"I CAN'T!" whimpered Ryouga loudly.

"SAY I LOVE YOU! COME ON! SAY IT! I LOVE YOU!"

"I LOVE YOU! NOW STOP CHOKING ME!"

"Um... Ucchan... Ryouga... hope I ain't interrupting something."

Ukyou winced. Ryouga froze, wide eyed.

They were in front of the gates of the Tendo residence... and they

had an audience. Ranma just looked kind of confused, as did Akane. Miyabi

was wearing a _very_ large grin. Nearby, Doctor Tofu was politely looking

elsewhere, Shampoo was smirking, and Mousse seemed to be as surprised as

Ranma.

"Ranchan! That... was not what it looked like," said Ukyou, blushing

badly.

"A-A-Akane!" stuttered Ryouga.

"What'd I tell you guys?" said Miyabi. "Those two, they were meant

for each other."

Meanwhile, the dark skies above rumbled ominously. Ryouga, Mousse,

Shampoo, and Ranma looked up nervously, then quickly entered the house.

To say dinner was crowded would be an understatement. It was already

a tad lacking in space when it seated Ranma, Genma, Soun, Akane, Nabiki,

and Kasumi. Adding Nodoka, Miyabi, Doctor Tofu, Ukyou, Ryouga, Shampoo,

and Mousse to the mix was making it very crowded and a potential

powder-keg as well.

Tofu was a danger zone by himself, threatening to mangle anyone

nearby. Aside from Kasumi, everyone gave him a _wide_ amount of room.

There seemed to be... something missing... Ranma wasn't sure what.

"Ah, Pig-tailed Girl, Akane Tendo, as always it is an honor to be

within your presence."

Ah. Kunou.

The Blue Thunder assumed a seat between Ranko and Akane, immediately

going for his famed double-glomp technique. Two quick elbows from both

ladies put an end to that rather quickly.

"Goodness... Ranko, is that boy your suitor?" wondered Nodoka with a

slight hint of teasing in her voice. Unfortunately, Ranko was drinking

soda with ice at the moment, and the shock of the suggestion made her 1)

choke on her drink 2) cough violently for a while, in (what Nodoka thought

was) a very unladylike manner and 3) spit an ice cube _through_ a window.

Unheard by almost all, someone outside yelled, "Duck!"

Mousse blinked.

Kasumi looked around, then asked, "where's Ryo?"

"Ah, well, he's doing something, and I really don't think he has time

to attend dinner tonight," said Miyabi, hoping to keep Ryo _away_ from the

dinner if she could.

Kasumi frowned. "Miyabi, you know it wouldn't be right to leave him

out. Would you go check on him again, please?"

Miyabi sighed, clearly upset with the prospect of dealing with him.

"Fine, I'll go in a moment, right after I finish this squid." She resumed

attacking her meal, but with a grumpier attitude.

"Miyabi, please tell him I'm waiting for him," said Ukyou. Miyabi's

presence was making her feel insecure and she needed Ryo's presence there

to assure her that things would turn out for the best.

Meanwhile, Mousse was mulling over an opportunity. It was tempting.

Really tempting. It had been explained to them how Nodoka's presence was

putting Ranma's life in jeopardy, and that they _had_ to refer to Ranma as

'Ranko', Akane's cousin as long as she was there.

But if Nodoka found out WHO Ranko really was, for Mousse that would

mean one less obstacle between him and Shampoo.

But it was a rather rotten thing to do, wasn't it?

He'd kept his mouth shut so far, but it was just _so_ tempting.

"How long do you think Genma will be away this time?" wondered

Nodoka.

"I... don't really know, Saotome-san," said Soun nervously. "It... it

could be quite a while."

[I know where Saotome is] thought Mousse, his eyes narrowing. He

glanced at 'Ranko' angrily... then got even more angry when he noticed

Ranma had Shampoo by her side again. How dare he! Even when he was a

she! And in front of his mother, too!"

"Mrs. Saotome!" said Mousse, dramatically standing up. A crash of

lightning punctuated his dramatic statement as the rain outside began to

pour. "I know where your son Ranma is! He's *UGH*"

*CRASH*

"Silly Mousse, he not know what he say," said Shampoo, dusting off

her hands.

"Was it really necessary," wondered Nodoka, "to throw him out of the

window?"

"I'll do the same to you if you even THINK of blowing Ranchan's

cover," whispered Ukyou to Ryouga.

"Say, Ukyou, Ryouga," said Nabiki, "you wouldn't happen to have seen

Ratiko around today?"

Both winced at the mention of their 'great-grandson'.

"Why, no," said Ukyou with a bit of a forced smile, "why do you ask?"

"Well, I was with him earlier today, showing him around.

Unfortunately, as Hibikis usually do, he got lost. I haven't seen him

since then. You haven't seen him lately either?"

"Ah, no, not really," said Ukyou.

"Oh well. I _was_ hoping he'd have your sense of direction insisted

of his great-grandfather's."

Meanwhile, as Miyabi departed, something finally clicked into

Nodoka's consciousness. She looked at Akane, carefully. Then to Miyabi's

retreating form. Then back to Akane.

Something wasn't right here.

Ishido and Childra could only ignore the weather so long; in the end

they had to return to the doujou. "It sounds a little busy in there,"

Childra noted. "My guess is they're having a party"

"Did you want to join - duck!" Ishido shouted, dragging Childra to

the ground with him as something sharp and shiny flew out one of the

windows.

"Ordinarily I'd say this was fun," Childra whispered, "but we're

lying in a rain-filled gutter."

"Huh? Oh." Childra knew Ishido was blushing, even though she

couldn't see his face well. "I'm sorry, it's just..." He tried to stand

up, but somehow their arms and legs had gotten tangled when he'd thrown

them out of the line of fire.

"Let me-"

"I'll just-"

"If you'll-"

"My zipper-"

"YOUR zipper?"

"My elbow doesn't normally bend that way."

"Ow, that's my hair."

Eventually they managed to pick themselves off the ground. In the

dim glow of the streetlight Childra could see that Ishido looked a fright;

she doubted she looked any better. "We'd better sneak in and clean up

before joining the others," she told her paramour.

"This would be kinda hard to explain," Ishido agreed, tugging at his

wet clothing.

"Who said anything about an explanation, laddie? I'm just vain."

Ishido's face slowly melted into a smile that Childra could see

through the rain. Then he began to chuckle softly. She smiled back; her

laughter joined his.

They stood together for a moment more before Childra shouted, "Duck!"

Before she could stop him, Ishido had thrown them both into the gutter

again.

"That was a close one," he said. "What was it? I never even saw it

coming."

Childra could barely control herself. "No," she finally blurted. "I

meant, 'duck.'" A giggle escaped her lips. "Someone threw Mousse out the

window."

Ryo took a deep, shuddering breath, trying to calm himself from his

bout with emotional breakdown. "Enough of that." He reached for his

handkerchief, only to realize that he'd used it to forge the note. He

stared at the note through tear-filled eyes, thought a moment, then picked

it up and blew his nose on it.

"There," he said as he put the handkerchief back. "Now it's more

authentic, anyway."

In the distance, he faintly heard someone yell 'duck!'. Strange

thing to yell in the middle of the night, he thought.

He picked the mirror off the floor and studied it; a cracked, jagged

reflection studied him back. Then Ryo examined the pattern burned into

his right hand. [This doesn't seem possible. I know it happened, but

that doesn't make it easier to understand. I don't like the idea of me

trying to reconstruct something I did by looking at my own results. It's

not like there aren't paradoxes in time travel, but this one is just too

much. I need a template, and all I've got to work with is...]

His eyes were drawn back to the book.

[There might be something I can use in there. It can't be _all_

human blood and dancing with goats.]

[But most of it is. Where do I draw the line? I've lied so much

these past few days, and I keep lying. Every time I say this is the last

time, and every time I'm wrong. Can I even stop?]

[If I make it home, then I can be honest again. I just need to do

this one small thing...]

[That's not true. I need to track Muhoshin down, and then I'll

probably have to trick Childra and the others to their own worlds.]

[Those are _all_ small things, though. They won't take more than a

few hours, not once the locket is made. Then I'll have a lifetime to make

up for it all, with Bell-chan there to keep me honest.]

[Will I be worthy of her, though, with my soul stained black with so

many lies?]

[She loves me. She'll forgive me. And without the locket, the point

is moot...]

"Now what are you planning?" Miyabi asked him.

"I shouldn't have shattered the door," Ryo grumbled to himself. His

half-sister's sudden appearance had shattered his train of thought,

leaving him with only memories of the debate his soul had waged with

itself. To Miyabi, he said, "I'm trying to fix all the mistakes I've

made. If you aren't going to help, then please go away and make your

own."

"Excuse me?"

"Your dinner party. I can guess what you have planned. You know it

isn't going to work."

"I know no such thing. And at least I'm being constructive." She

put her hands on her hips and stared down at the pig-tailed boy. "All

you've done is lose things, pass out drunk in gutters, and feel everyone

up. Oh, and you order people around. That's quite the track record,

'brother.'"

Ryo stared at his half-sister. "I don't know where you come off

challenging me like this. You never let me explain anything; you're too

busy putting the multiverse in danger. Don't you understand how selfish

you're being? This is a lot bigger than any of us, but all you and Ratiko

want to do is ensure your own future. Don't you understand? This might

not be it! Your meddling might cost some future Tachi or Godai their

existence, just because you and Rat don't understand multiple time lines."

"And you do?" Miyabi crossed her arms. "It seems to me that most of

these mistakes can be laid at your doorstep. And what's wrong with making

people who love each other understand the truth?"

"Because it might not be true HERE!" he shouted. "The longer we

stay, the more we do, the more pain we cause ourselves and others. We

have a responsibility to leave here as quickly as possible, changing as

little as possible." He stood up, looming over Miyabi in his anger. "Damn

it, what do I have to do to make you listen to me?"

Miyabi's slap knocked him to the far side of the room. "With a mouth

like that, do you think I'd _ever_ listen to you? I can't see how Auntie

Ukyou could ever be happy in your world, not if she raised a no-good

pervert like you."

Ryo rubbed at the handprint that burned on his cheek. "Go," he

growled. "If you stay, this is only going to get worse."

Miyabi never heard his threat; she'd already left the room.

Miyabi returned to the dinner table, muttering very violent curses

aimed mainly towards a certain displaced pigtailed boy with, in her words,

'an ego the size of Japan'. It absolutely ruined her mood.

Returning to dinner didn't help any.

Mr. Panda had become rather ravenous and was starting to fight with

'Ranko' over some of the dishes, while Mousse had somehow made his way

back and, with Ryouga, gave occasional Death Glares to Ranko. Ukyou and

Shampoo gave each other Death Glares while occasionally trying to help

Ranko out with little things here and there.

Happosai was still gone, which was good.

The area around Doctor Tofu was a forbidden zone. Occasionally,

Shampoo would shove Mousse his way, resulting in some painful displays of

chiropractor techniques.

Nodoka seemed bothered by something.

That certainly wasn't a good sign.

"Miyabi, where's Ryo?" asked an anxious Ukyou.

"He's too busy at the moment to eat dinner," she said with a hint of

annoyance in her voice. "Might be down later."

"Miyabi-chan, sit next to Akane-chan please?" said Nodoka with a

slight frown. Miyabi blinked. Akane turned pale. Ranko seemed to be

sweating far too much.

The panda held up a sign. /Oh my./

"Put that away, you moron!" hissed Ranko.

/Run while you can!/

"I said cut that out!"

Nodoka looked at Akane, then at Miyabi, then at Akane again. She was

clearly unhappy about something.

"Akane-chan... how old are you?" asked Nodoka slowly.

"Ah... sixteen, Auntie Nodoka."

"And... Miyabi... how old are you, dear?"

Miyabi realized where this was heading and became as nervous as her

'mother'. "Aheheh... why do you ask, grandmother?" She smiled, trying

not to be nervous. Nodoka wasn't smiling at all.

"You said you were Akane's daughter, Miyabi-chan?" asked Nodoka.

"Ah... there's an explanation for this, really!" said Akane.

/Akane decided to adopt?/ suggested the panda, which was suddenly

booted into the pond by Ranko.

"Why is this girl claiming to be your daughter, Akane-chan?" asked

Nodoka seriously.

"Well... it's like this... she... ah... I mean..."

"Hey, what's this? You all throw a big dinner and don't wait for me?

Why, I'm offended!"

Soun and Panda winced. Shampoo and Ukyou scowled and put a hand on

their weaponry. Ranko sighed.

Happosai strolled in, clad in his usual panty-thief garb, complete

with a bag full of panties. Nodoka's mood wasn't helped by his arrival.

"Saaaay," said Happosai, squinting at Nodoka, "aren't you... Genma's

wife? Nodoka, yeah?"

/Touch her and die/ signed the panda.

"Yes... I am," said Nodoka cautiously. "Why do you ask?"

"Well, long time no see!" said Happosai, "gimmie a hug, baby!"

*POOF*

Everyone around the table stepped back in shock as a blinding flash

of light erupted right in front of Ranko.

"What the?! Hey, how'd I get here?"

Everyone stared at the table, where a puzzled Happosai sat clutching

an odd little mirror.

The Happosai that wasn't on the table froze in a pre-jump pose. He

wasn't sure what to make of this.

"What's happening?" asked the Happosai that wasn't standing on the

dinner table, but rather, on by it.

The Happosai with the mirror blinked, frowned, grumbled something

about being distracted, then said, "Happi my man, we're just on our way to

take care of some important business."

"Eh? We are?" wondered Happosai. "Something very important, right?

I'd hope so if we have to use _that_."

"Oh, this?" wondered Other Happosai, waving around the mirror. "Why,

of course it's important! I wouldn't use _this_ otherwise!"

While the two perverts were in conversation, the rest of the room was

in shock. Soun and Mr. Panda looked absolutely horrified.

"Oh why?! Why are we twice cursed?!" wailed Soun.

/Perhaps we should flee?/

"Aw man, two of the old freaks," grumbled Ranma.

Kasumi merely looked a little puzzled. "Oh my."

"Why are there two Happosais?" asked Nodoka. She was less than

pleased to deal with one of them. Two was intolerable.

"Hrm? Two of us?" they both said at the same time.

"Oh, just time travel," said Mirror Happosai. Dinner Happosai nodded

solemnly in agreement. "Nothin'for you to worry about, sweeto."

"Time... travel?" said Nodoka in disbelief.

"What, you've never heard of time travel?" said Mirror Happosai.

"Used to do it all the time!"

"What's the emergency, anyways?" wondered Happosai.

"You'll find a note after dinner," said Mirror Happosai. "You'll be

in my shoes after you read it."

"It isn't... it isn't about my darlings, is it?"

Mirror Happosai nodded.

"Then why are you _here_?" wondered Dinner Happosai.

"Well, aheh, I suppose I got distraced along the way, with, you

know," he said, giving a sidelong glance at Ranko's chest.

"Oooh. Heheh, I know what ya mean, but you'd better be on your way,

yeah?"

"Oh yeah, right. See ya later!"

In an amazingly quick series of moves, Mirror Happosai shed a tear

unto the mirror and disappeared.

"Well, now that that's out of the way," said Happosai, "gimmie some

love, Nodoka-cha-"

*WHAM*

/I *said* DON'T TOUCH HER!/ signed the panda, acting in unison with

Ranko to stomp on the pervert, then boot him into the night sky through

the window that was already broken by Mousse.

Nodoka stared at the spot where the diminutive pervert had vanished.

And suddenly, comprehension dawned. The truth was there. She knew.

"Happosai has a twin brother?"

A full wave of facefaulting commenced.

"Actually," said Miyabi, "that little scene explains why I'm here."

There was a tense, brief silence. It felt like eternity.

After that 'twin brother' remark, Nabiki was expecting to hear Nodoka

answer Miyabi with, "you're Happosai's granddaughter?!"

"So... you really are..." said Nodoka quietly.

Nabiki braced herself. The panda watched things with great interest.

Ranko and Akane held their breaths. Ukyou and Ryouga were frowning.

"So," said Nodoka, looking utterly astonished, "is my son a good

father?"

Akane and Ranko breathed a sigh of relief. So did Nabiki, but not

for the same reasons.

/He's the manliest father ever known!/ signed the panda. /Isn't

that right, Miyabi-chan?/

*WHAM*

"Don't overdo it," mumbled Ranma.

"I'm gonna go check on Ryo," mumbled a disgruntled Ukyou.

Childra 'borrowed' some of Nabiki's clothing while Ishido hunted down

some dry towels. "It sounds like a riot in there," he said, pointing

towards the living room. "Are you sure you want to join them?"

"Maybe not just yet." Childra took one of the towels and began

drying her hair. "Why don't we find you something to wear first."

"I, uh..."

"You thought of me before yourself," she said. "That's sweet." He

blushed. Childra took him by the arm and walked him down the hall. I

think we want to go-"

"Uh, Childra, is that normal?"

"Blood-red light pouring from a door that's been blasted open?

Offhand, I'd have to say no."

"Stay back, then. This could be-"

"Exciting." Childra patted him on the cheek and took the lead. "By

the way, does the air seem hazy to you?"

"Uh, no. Should it?"

"No reason for it to, unless you can see the things I can." She

peeked into the room. "But you ought to see this. Ryo Saotome, what are

you doing?"

The pig-tailed boy looked up from the book he'd been studying. "I'm

trying to find a way to fix this mess."

Childra glanced down at the open page. At first she wasn't sure if

she was reading it upside-down or not. "Are you old enough to be looking

at pictures like that, Boy Scout?"

"I'm an apprentice healer. I've read my share of anatomy books."

"I've seen some of Rat's medical texts. They usually don't show

people in groups." Childra swallowed. "And normally you only get to see

their internal organs _after_ they're dead. Plus the books don't glow

with light from the depths of Hell."

Ryo nodded. "True. It's a good thing Happosai is a poor man's

magician. If he had any patience or skill, the arcane objects he has

collected here would be deadly dangerous. As it is, he's like a small

child playing with firecrackers."

"Uh, Saotome, he's not the only one who's in danger of burning

themselves. Why don't you put the book down. I'm sure there's a way to

get out of this mess without sacrificing a virgin or two." Ishido

blushed.

"What? Oh, you don't need to worry about that." Ryo shut the book;

the light in the room returned to a less hellish state. "I wasn't

considering any of those spells. Not seriously."

"But you were reading them!" Ishido accused.

"I had to do something!" Ryo shook his head. "It was... difficult.

The book kept suggesting things, providing answers before I formulated the

questions. I thought reading Happosai's writing was difficult, but this

book..." He shook his head again.

"But why were you even trying to do this in the first place?" Childra

dropped to her knees beside Ryo and poked him in the chest. "You're almost

as experienced as I am... with the supernatural," she clarified for

Ishido. "You should know better than to mess with hellfire."

Ryo held up his scarred hand. "It's my curse. I'm the one that made

the bloody thing, at least, I will make it. And if I don't, we're stuck

here, messing this world up more and more and more."

"You're babbling."

"I'm desperate!" Ryo grabbed Childra by the shoulders. Ishido took

a step closer. "Every time I turn around, one of you is making things

worse. I know I can solve this mess, if I learn enough, but I don't have

the time to be honest, or to be careful. I have to cram my head full of

magic _now_ while I still have the mirror, and I have to lie to the people

I care about most to keep them away while I do what I need to do."

"Lying and desperation are not a good combo to be mixing with a book

of dark magic, Boyo. And I know you've seen Star Wars in the original

two-dee. 'Beware the Dark Side, Duke.'"

"It was 'Luke'."

"It was a century ago, and that's not my field." She pursed her lips

in thought. "Didn't someone get an amulet burned into their hand in that

movie, too?"

"No, but an American President played in both of..."

"What is it?"

Ryo blinked. He let go of Childra, stared at her blouse, and then at

his hand. He looked back up; there was a heart-shaped pattern sewn onto

the pockets. "Give me your shirt!" he demanded.

"WHAT?" Ishido's knuckled popped as his hands turned into fists.

Childra was a bit more calm. She was used to demands like these, and

knew a dozen responses. The one for propositions from possibly drunk

time-traveling wannabe dark mages involved reaching into hammerspace for

her bo. "I think you need to calm down a bit," she told him. "Take one

of these and call me when you're not possessed."

Ryo caught the staff casually. "Just look! The patterns match. Now

I know where to start."

Childra tried to reclaim her weapon, but she had no leverage. "What

are you babbling about?" Ishido saw her plight and reached in, getting a

hand on the staff and making things that much more complicated.

"This." Ryo tugged; the Nanban Mirror shattered under the full force

of Ishido's misdirected strike.

Childra gasped. "What the hell are you doing? I saw the thing shoot

off blue sparks; that was a magic mirror, wasn't it?

"I know what I'm doing now." Ryo let go of the staff and began

sorting through the remains of the artifact. "I've studied a little bit

of everything, and like my father, I learn quickly. It turns out I don't

need a spell after all. I just need one of the pockets of your blouse for

the initial pattern. Then I can rebuild the mirror better than before."

"It's not mine," Childra said. Ryo's shift from hellish depression

to unearthly confidence was unnerving. She didn't think he was possessed,

not any more, but she wasn't sure he was completely sane, either. "It's

Nabiki's."

"I'll buy her a new one. A hundred, even. But I need that one, and

I need it now."

"I... I'll go change."

Ukyou wandered upstairs with a tired gait, knowing that she hadn't

made any progress at all towards Ranma, while Akane and Miyabi's version

of history were steadily making progress. They already had approval from

Ranma's mother. That was no good, she was hoping to do that first. She

had no idea how, but she was hoping to be first anyways.

[Well, she'd object to me no matter what] she thought glumly. [I

wonder how she treats me in Ryo's world.]

Ryo. The thought of the boy made her smile. She saw much of herself

and Ranma in that boy. [Can't give up hope on a future like that, can I?]

All thoughts stopped at the sight of a shattered door. From within,

an unearthly glow emanated.

"Ryo?" she called out tentatively.

"In here, mom!"

Ukyou frowned. That was Happosai's room. What was he doing in that

vile place? She stepped through cautiously.

"Hi mom," said Ryo, gazing blankly in the direction of a book that

emanated an unholy glow. Nearby, the boy she recognized as Ishido was

seated, watching Ryo very carefully.

"Son," said Ukyou, "you're not turning satanic on me, are you?"

"Huh? Wha?" he muttered, his glazed look fading from his face. "Oh,

no. Just trying to plan out things."

"Things? What kind of things?"

"Going home," he said.

"Oh."

"Mom?"

"Yes, sugar?"

"I..." he struggled for words briefly, then looked at Ishido. "Do

you think you could step outside while I talk to my mom?"

Ishido gave him a wary glare. "Don't try anything funny," he

grumbled as he stepped outside the room.

"Thanks."

"So, what's up?" asked Ukyou, noting her son's depressed state.

"If... dad were in this kind of mess, lost in time I mean, he'd do

_anything_ to get back home... even if some things he'd have to do were a

little dishonest, right?"

"Why," asked Ukyou nervously, "are you asking?"

"I... I'm feeling guilty, I guess. You see, in another world I... I

had to lie to obaachan, and I really didn't like doing that."

"And?" wondered Ukyou. She thought that couldn't be all there was.

If it was, her son definitely had morals far and away higher than his

father or grandfather.

"And... by the time I'm through in this world, I may have to do

things that..." he looked briefly at the doorway, where he could see

Ishido's shadow, then back at the book, "things that might make some

people really unhappy."

"Ah... whatever you're doing, does it-"

"Does it affect you or pop? No, it shouldn't. At least, I hope

not."

"Well," said Ukyou. "You know, sometimes your dad had to pretend to

be a girl sometimes, and he really hated that. And he hid from his mother

and pretended to be Ranko, Akane's cousin, plenty of times."

"And?" wondered Ryo.

"The point is, even if it was unpleasant, he did what had to be done

with no regrets. Lots of griping and grumbling, but no regrets. Do what

you have to do, Ryo-chan. I won't think any less of you, or expect any

less of you."

Ukyou gave her son a quick hug, then poked him in the nose. "You

haven't had anything to eat yet, sugar."

"I know mom, I just have to finish what I'm doing first, okay?"

"Alright, see you downstairs."

After the initial shock of realizing that her granddaughter really

was there, a bit of an emotional scene broke out with much hugging and a

little crying on the part of both women. There were a few watery eyes on

Mr. Panda, Soun, Akane, and even Ranma.

Things went well (or downhill, depending on the viewpoint) after

that. It was partially due to the minor food skirmishes that were

happening between Ranko and Mr. Panda, minor elbowing between Shampoo and

Ukyou, and occasional and discrete food tossing by the various teens. It

was mainly due to dinner conversation with Miyabi telling a few stories of

how things were in the future. There were quite a few stories that,

despite the fact that they hadn't happened yet, embarrassed certain

persons in the room greatly (except for Mousse, who was overjoyed to hear

that he'd eventually win over Shampoo).

"... and that's how mother and father were married, or so they told

me," said Miyabi.

Nodoka sighed happily. "It all sounds romantic. Aren't you looking

forward to that day, Akane-chan?"

"Ah, er, I... guess so," said Akane timidly. She failed to notice

Ranko's blush, Ryouga's scowl, or Ukyou rolling her eyes up.

"And then there was the time father tried to get me to feel

comfortable in school," said Miyabi. "He said to think of it like Martial

Arts... and I did. Mother and father were upset later when they found out

I had beaten up some of my classmates."

"Sounds like something his father did," said Nodoka, laughing. Ranko

and Mr. Panda, meanwhile, were looking somewhat embarrassed.

/It seemed like a good idea at the time!/ signed the panda while

Nodoka wasn't looking.

Miyabi was feeling... almost happy again. She'd always loved her

grandmother dearly, and didn't want to have to be a stranger to her in the

past as well. She'd always been able to talk to grandmother. She'd

gotten along well with her grandfathers. They weren't as close to her as

grandmother, but they were nice to be with. The younger versions of them,

however, were irritating to an unbelievable degree. It seemed all their

energies were focused on four things: food, getting rid of Happosai,

shogi, and getting Akane and Ranma married.

They were really horrible at that last item.

Inspiration hit her like a mallet.

What grandfather Soun and Genma needed was a little help... and a

little restraint. With their help, she just might get things rolling

around here in the way they were _supposed_ to be going. Or at least

prevent them from mangling the few strings of attachment her parents were

feeling between each other at the moment.

"So, where is your father now, Miyabi-chan? I'm very anxious to meet

him," said Nodoka.

"Father... is... um..." Miyabi looked uncertainly at Ranko, who,

along with Mr. Panda, was shaking her head and mouthing 'no'.

"He's out in the mountains, I think. You know how he is, always on

training trips."

"Oh... I see," said Nodoka sadly. "Well... I'll eventually see him,

right? I'll just have to be patient."

/Patience is a virtue!/

"ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWF!" *splash*.

"Oh my. Ranko, why did you throw Mr. Panda into the pond?" wondered

Nodoka.

"He was startin' to annoy me."

Nodoka sighed. "I had really been hoping to see my son, you know.

After all these years..." She trailed off, her face suddenly looking old

and sad. "It seems every time I've almost caught up to them, they just

slip away... I miss them by a matter of minutes..."

Miyabi squeezed her grandmother's hand reassuringly. "Don't worry,

Baachan. I'm sure you'll see Ranma soon." She started to shoot a withering

glare in her father's direction, then stopped. Ranko looked as if someone

had punched her in the stomach.

In her home reality, she had never seen her father look ashamed. He

had never had a reason to.

Here, he had a choice between lying to his mother or risking the life

of both his father and himself. And he looked, at the moment, like he'd

rather risk dying.

"Thank you, Miyabi-chan." Nodoka dabbed at her eyes a bit. "But, do

you know, I'm not even sure what he looks like now? I would know my son on

sight," the room winced, "but if I could only see a recent picture of him,

it would be so..." she broke off, casting her eyes sadly downward.

Miyabi stood up. A picture couldn't hurt, she decided. Her

grandmother deserved at least that much.

No, she amended, her grandmother deserved more. But this was all she

could give her at the moment.

"Hold on, Baachan. There's one upstairs, I'll bring it down to you."

And before anyone could react, she had darted off.

Nodoka gave the room a misty-eyed smile. "Miyabi's such a considerate

child. You must be very proud, Akane."

Akane nodded hesitantly. "She'll be a great daughter... is a great

daughter... um."

"I understand. It must be rather confusing, this time-travel

business." Nodoka turned to study Ranko again. "Ranko-chan, are you all

right? You look a bit ill."

"Oh, I'm fine, Auntie Nodoka." stammered Ranko. "I just ate a little

too quickly, that's all."

Nodoka nodded. "I remember that Ranma used to eat like that. So did

his father, as I recall." She smiled for the first time since Ranma's name

had come up. "I do hope he hasn't gotten as portly as Genma."

/ GENMA IS THE PERFECT WEIGHT!/

Ranko snorted. "Yeah, for a Panda."

With a screech of burning carpet, Miyabi zoomed back into the room.

"Here you go, Baachan!"

Nodoka took the proffered photo with something akin to reverence. Her

son. Not in the flesh, but at least as he recently was.

She noted with pride the good muscle tone, the set of the jaw, the

defiant stance. And the lack of a gut. While she loved her husband, she

sometimes wished there were less of him to love.

Yes, a fine-looking young...

Nodoka froze, staring at the photo. She couldn't put her finger on

it, but there was something... something... FEMININE about the picture.

But what?

The shirt? No, men wore that sort of thing in China. Granted, Ranko

wore one too, but then Ranko was a bit of a tomboy.

The pigtail? No, a warrior's tail certainly wasn't feminine. Although

the one Ranko had suited her nicely.

The facial features? No, they were manly enough. Handsome, too. Like

Ranko's, actually, only not as fine.

It clicked. Ranma reminded her of Ranko, which was why she was

perceiving the picture as feminine. She sighed with relief.

Wait a minute.

Ranko. Ranma. Ranma. Ranko.

Same clothing. Same pigtail. Same face. Same appetite. Same general

build.

Her gaze flashed from the picture, to Ranko, to the picture...

Of course.

Nodoka stood.

"Ranko," she said, voice quiet and controlled. "Can I see you alone

for a minute?"

/She knows! Run!/

"Uh, yeah," said Ranko nervously. "Of course, Auntie Saotome."

"Good." Nodoka took a deep breath. "If you'll come with me into the

kitchen..." She turned, and walked out of the room. Shooting an

apprehensive glance at Akane - who was looking rather nervous herself -

Ranko slowly followed.

Soun dabbed at his eyes. "She's going to kill him! Now our two

families will never be..."

"Grandmother," said Miyabi firmly, "is _not_ going to kill father."

Several dubious faces stared back at her.

"Right?" she added, hopefully.

/I'd better start running./

"No, wait until you hear the screams and chopping sounds from the

kitchen."

"DADDY!"

"Shampoo no understand."

"If she so much as touches Ranchan..."

"Oh my!"

Ranma surveyed the kitchen nervously, eyes trying to identify the

fastest way out. Dutiful son, yeah, but there were limits.

Closing the door, Nodoka sat down at the kitchen table. "You're

Akane's cousin, right, Ranko-chan?"

"Um, uh, yeah..."

"How is it I've never met your parents?"

Ranma's mind flew. She knows! Or at least suspects! "Um, well, mom

and dad died a while back." A sad look. "That's why I've been staying with

the Tendos."

Nodoka nodded. "Ah, I understand. Soun has a duty to take care of his

dead sister's daughter."

"Well, yeah... although it's not really duty, I think."

"Of course. I'm sorry, Ranko. You must miss your mother very much."

Guilt filling her once again, Ranma stared at the floor. "More than

you could know," she said, quietly.

Nodoka patted her gently on the shoulder. "Poor Ranko. I'm afraid

Genma hasn't been a very good father to you, has he?"

"Well, he tries. The Old Man's just... such... a... uh-oh..."

Nodoka sighed. "Yes, Ranko, I know the truth. Why didn't you just

tell me from the beginning?"

Ranma began to mentally catalogue the exits to the room. "I wanted

to, but... I was afraid you'd think I was..."

"Ranko, Ranko. I don't blame you for anything. None of this is your

fault. You can't be blamed for my husband's," her tone turned icy,

"foolishness."

Ranma blinked, astonished. "You... you don't... you won't have me

commit seppuku?"

Nodoka laughed. "Seppuku! What on earth ever gave you such an idea,

child? Of course not!"

"That's that's... wonderful!" She had her mother back! No more

hiding! No more "Ranko and Mr. Panda"! Her baka father had kept her

running from a loving mother all this time for nothing!

Nodoka sat down in a chair, and began to cry.

Huh? Oh no! She crossed over beside her mother, and kneeled, putting

a hand on her shoulder. "Mom, don't cry... I'm sorry... I wish you didn't

have to be ashamed of me. I'm sorry."

Stiff sniffling, Nodoka reached out and hugged Ranma. "Thank you for

calling me 'mom', Ranko-chan. And I'm not ashamed of you. It's just not

easy to learn your husband has been unfaithful to you."

Alarm bells began to go off in Ranma's mind.

Why was she still calling her 'Ranko'? Unfaithful? Genma? That was

about the only good thing you could say about the man.

"I suppose he must have met Soun's sister while I was carrying Ranma,

if you're the same age as him." Fury rippled through her voice, and Ranma

gulped. "I suppose I wasn't as desirable while pregnant. When did you

learn he was your real father?"

"I... I've really always known..."

"Well. Until he returns... and probably after he returns... I'd like

to consider you... well... as a daughter." A tear trickled down one cheek.

"I know I'll never be like a real mother to you, but..."

It was too much. "Oh, mom!" Ranma cried, throwing her arms around her

mother. Nodoka, startled, returned the hug.

"It'll be all right, Ranko-chan. Although your father and I have...

things to discuss."

Great, Ranma thought glumly. Instead of Akane's cousin Ranko, now I'm

Genma's illegitimate daughter Ranko. Pop's gonna be thrilled to hear about

this.

Nodoka sighed. This was turning out to be quite a day. First a time

traveling grandchild and now she had an illegitimate step-daughter. Such a

very trying day indeed.

"Did you have to break the mirror?" Ishido asked nervously."I don't

want seven years of bad luck."

Ryo laughed. "We're time travelers. Seven years is nothing." He

settled a pair of goggles over his eyes. "Now stand back. There might be

sparks."

Childra stepped behind Ishido, both because it was safer and because

it gave a good excuse to snuggle. "I thought you said you knew what you

were doing."

"I do." He held a piece of silver over a lit bunsen burner with a

pair of tongs borrowed earlier from Kasumi. The fire turned green, and he

frowned. "I do," he repeated.

"Is this going to take long?"

Ryo laughed again. "Twenty years is my guess." He looked over his

shoulder and saw that Childra was not amused.

"That was a joke. This will take all night, though. You two might

want to get some sleep."

"And leave you alone, doing God-knows-what with Happosai's magic? I

think not." Ishido nodded in agreement, then returned to scowling at Ryo.

"Someone has to keep an eye on you."

The silver glowed from the heat.

"As you wish."

Ukyou scowled. Things were not going as she had planned, not at all.

In fact, things were taking a scary turn. Ranma was alone with his mother

in the kitchen, and things were quiet.

Too quiet.

Nearby, Mousse leaned to Ryouga and whispered, "so, think he's dead

yet?"

*CLANG*

*THUD*

"How DARE you, you jackass!"

"Stupid Mousse! Shut up!"

The boys were about to whine in retaliation when Ranko returned with

Nodoka. There were hints of tears in Nodoka's eyes, and Ranko looked very

uncomfortable.

/Uh oh./

"Um... Ran... ko, are you okay?" asked Akane.

"We're okay, Akane-chan," said Nodoka in a tone that suggested that

pursuing the topic any further would be a little impolite.

"Would anyone like some dessert?" asked Kasumi, breaking the tension

in the room. "I made some cake."

There was a general muttering of agreement that yes, dessert would be

nice. Nodoka polished her sword idly, which made Mr. Panda upset.

Meanwhile, the girls (and Kunou) were about to make their move on getting

alone with 'Ranko' when Akane threw a wrench into the works.

"C'mon, _Ranko_, we've gotta talk."

Before anyone could do anything, Akane dragged Ranko out of the room

and upstairs.

"What happened back there?" asked Akane. There were alarm bells

ringing in her head, but she wasn't sure exactly what was wrong. Clearly,

Ranma's secret must still be safe, since he was still a she and alive. But

if not that, then what?

Ranma sighed. "You're not gonna believe this."

"Oh? Try me."

"I was Ranko, your cousin. Now I'm also Ranko, illegitimate daughter

of pop 'cause of some affair he had with a Tendo. She thinks of me as her

step-daughter now."

Akane's scowl was quick to arrive. Ranma noticed it immediately.

"Ranmaaa..."

"Hey!" she said, hoping to avoid a malleting for the day, "I swear,

this ain't my fault!"

Meanwhile, unheard, soft footsteps padded away from their door and

down the hall. Soun tried his best to listen in, missing out of the

beginning of it, but heard more than enough of the rest of it.

Meanwhile, downstairs, things were surprisingly peaceful. The

'children' were sitting around watching television and chatting while

sipping on either tea, coffee, or soda and occasionally passing around a

plate of cookies. They would normally just fight to work off the anxiety

and boredom, but the double-whammy of Kasumi Tendo and Nodoka Saotome

nullified their fighting spirits sufficiently.

Nabiki had the remote. Nobody dared to ask her to change the

channel.

Doctor Tofu was in the bathroom, trying desperately to remember where

those 'shiatsu relaxation points' were before he made himself an absolute

and utter fool in front of Kasumi.

Kasumi and Nodoka were in the kitchen, cleaning up after everyone.

Mr. Panda was in the garden, playing with the tire and looking around

nervously every now and then. He dropped the tire immediately at the

sight of Soun walking despondently into the garden and rushed to his side.

/So, what'd you find out?/ signed the panda. /The boy did

something/ (flip) /stupid, right?/

Soun looked at his old furry friend at a loss for words. [Saotome,

how could you?! How DARE you?!]

At first, he thought that his ears must have been faulty. The words

he heard were few but alarming.

Genma.

Tendo.

Affair.

Child.

At first, it all didn't make sense. But the more he thought of it,

the more it made sense. He was on training trips for years at a time,

away from everyone and hearing nothing for months, and sometimes years.

All the easier to decieve him. Right?

"Saotome..." he said quietly, looking down at the ground. "How could

you... how could you?!"

The panda was baffled and it showed. /Huh? How could I what?/

"HOW COULD YOU HAVE AN AFFAIR WITH MY WIFE?!"

Soun grabbed the panda in a savage choke hold immediately while

applying the savage Demon's Head Attack, while signs like /I'm

innocent!/, /there must have been an understanding!/, and /Please

don't kill me!/ were being tossed aside savagely by the raging Tendo.

Unfortunately, they had an audience.

"Hey... did he say what I think he said?" wondered Ukyou. "The old

man just hit a new low."

"No kidding," muttered a scowling Nabiki.

"Grandfather, how could you?!" yelled Miyabi.

"I had known the line of Saotome was of a tainted nature, but I had

not fathomed the depth of their depravity to be as such," said Kunou.

"Aiyah, Mr. Tendo very very violent."

"Alright Saotome," grumbled Tendo, "which one is yours?"

The battered and beaten panda barely managed to sign back, /which

what?/

"It can't be Kasumi... not Nabiki... that means..." In Soun's

panic-stricken mind it all began to make sense. They were so alike, after

all. Stubborn, prideful, with a 'can do anything' attitude and a taste

for martial arts.

"HOW DARE YOU ENGAGE AKANE, YOUR OWN DAUGHTER, TO HER BROTHER?!"

The spectators were rendered speechless.

Miyabi fainted.

"I... have no idea," said Nabiki. She was, to put it mildly,

shocked. But the more she thought about it, the more it made sense. They

_were_ so much alike, weren't they?

"Nooooo way," said a wide-eyed Ukyou.

"The depravity of Ranma Saotome runs deep and dark indeed, to

knowingly snare into his charms his own sister! He shall feel heaven's

justice, so swears Blue Thunder!"

"Man, this is sick," grumbled Mousse, while Shampoo nodded in

agreement.

"Saotome!" roared Soun, "THE ENGAGEMENT IS OFF!"

/Wait! No!/ signed the panda frantically. /This must be a

misunderstanding!/ Soun ignored the signs and the savage beating

continued.

"Wait," said Ukyou, "if Ranchan isn't engaged to Akane anymore..."

"Means husband is finally free!" finished Shampoo.

"And Akane's free too!" yelled Ryouga and Kunou triumphantly.

"YES!" everyone yelled.

Then they realized there were still a few more obstacles in the way.

Ryouga scowled at Kunou, while Ukyou and Shampoo gave each other evil

glares.

Mousse was in neither camp, and definitely unhappy about the turn of

events. "This isn't good," he said, polishing his glasses, "this isn't

good at all."

Unnoticed by all (who were busy scheming on getting each other out of

the way), Akane and Ranko came back downstairs, with Ranko looking just a

little roughed up.

"Why is dad beating up Mr. Saotome?" wondered Akane.

Ranko shrugged. "Dunno. Hey, Mousse, what's going on?"

"Your father engaged you to your sister. I think."

Unfortunately, this was the moment Miyabi woke up again.

And fainted. Again.

"He WHAT?!" roared Ranko. "I have a... and he... POP, YOU'RE DEAD!"

The savage beating escalated to a previously unmatched degree of

brutality.

"I don't believe he did something that stupid," said Akane. "Mousse,

who's Ranma's sister?"

"Well," said Mousse, putting his glasses on, "you are."

"WHAT?!"

"Oh, Akane!" said Ryouga, his eyes glazing over. "You ca-UGH!"

"One side, peasant!" boomed Kunou, catching Ryouga by surprise with a

swift and casual bokken strike. "Akane Tendo! My love, I have come to

liberate you from your most immoral and incestuous engagement! Come, into

my ar-UGH!"

"WHAT are you people TALKING ABOUT?!" yelled Akane, as she cleaned

her fist of Kunou. Nabiki sighed and dragged Kunou off to tend to his

wounds as she usually did. She was considering charging double her usual

medical fee, if only because this ridiculous mess put her in a bad mood.

"I know it's a bit of a shock, Akane, but... hey, he's your brother,"

said Ukyou.

"Where'd you get the idea that he was my brother?" said Akane

angrily.

"Looks like you'll be my sister-in-law, eh? Hm?" Ukyou gave Akane a

playful elbow. "Won't that be cool?"

A bonbori suddenly came between them.

"Akane Tendo Shampoo's sister-in-law!"

"Guess again, BIMBO!" yelled Ukyou.

"WAIT A MINUTE!" yelled Akane. Everyone paused, even Psycho-Soun.

"I am _NOT_ Ranma's sister! Where'd you get this stupid idea?!"

"Now now, sugar," said Ukyou, "I know you're in shock."

"It take time to accept truth, yes?" said Shampoo.

"I-if you need someone to talk to," nervously offered Ryouga, "I'm

willing to listen."

"I AM NOT IN SHOCK! _WHERE_ DID YOU GET THIS STUPID IDEA?!"

"Everyone thinks I'm her brother?" muttered Ranko. "Pop. Explain.

Now."

/This time it _isn't_ my fault!/

"Well, Akane, your own father," said Ukyou, "or should I say,

stepfather, said so."

"Akane," sobbed Soun, "I heard you say... you said... from your own

words..."

"Daaaad, you were eavesdropping on us, weren't you?!"

"And a good thing I was, young lady!" said Soun. "I could not let

the engagement continue after hearing what I have heard today!"

/I still think this is/ (flip) /a big misunderstanding./

Unfortunately, that just got Soun mad again, which lead to more

minutes of Throttle-The-Panda.

"Dad, you didn't hear things right!" said Akane.

"Poor girl," said Ukyou, "holding on to him even though she knows

she's his sister. She must have really fallen for him hard."

Shampoo nodded solemnly in agreement.

"Don't you think she might be telling the truth?" asked Mousse.

Shampoo sighed, grabbed Mousse by the neck, tossed him in the

bathroom where Dr. Tofu was, and yelled "KASUMI!"

"Oh my, what's going on here?"

The Panda froze. Soun halted. The teens paused in their individual

bickering. Ranko took a few tentative steps towards Nodoka, hoping to do

some damage control on this chaos.

"Why," asked Nodoka, "are you trying to kill Mr. Panda, Tendo-san?"

Soun gave the panda a wicked glare.

/PLEASE, TENDO, DON'T!/

"And why is Miyabi-chan unconscious on the floor?" she added. Gently,

she sat and put Miyabi's head on her lap.

Ukyou didn't have the courage to tell Nodoka that her husband had

cheated on her, and neither did Ryouga, Shampoo, or Mousse.

"Madame Saotome!" boomed the Blue Thunder, "it saddens me to reveal

the base nature of thy beloved to be that of an unfaithful, nay, honorless

man."

Tatewaki Kunou knew no such reluctance. It was thought he was too

stupid to be aware of it.

"Hey, I thought Nabiki took him away," muttered Ranko.

"Then," said Ukyou, "you know about... Genma's illegitimate child?"

"Yes, I do," said Nodoka, sounding heartbroken and sad. "But I try

to look at it in a positive light. I think of her as... the daughter I

never had." She smiled, tainted with a little melancholy, and reached out

to hold Ranko's hand. "Isn't that right, Ranko-chan?"

"Huh? But I thought Akane was the one," said Ukyou.

"Heavens, no!" laughed Nodoka. "Wherever did you get that silly

idea?"

Everyone pointed at Soun.

/I *TOLD* YOU!/ signed the panda.

"So, Miyabi-chan fainted because..." said Nodoka.

"Because she heard us say Ranchan and Akane were brother and sister,"

said Ukyou. "Sorry about that."

"Miyabi-chan, wake up," said Nodoka gently. "Miyabi-chan, come on,

time to get up now."

"Mmm." Miyabi stirred, opening her eyes narrowly. "Baachan?"

"Yes, dear, it's me."

"Oh... I just had the most horrible dream."

"Really?"

"Yes... mum and dad were fighting so much, Auntie Ukyou and Uncle

Ryouga didn't care about each other, and Uncle Tatewaki was a pervert."

Then Miyabi opened her eyes.

"Oh," she sighed, "It wasn't a nightmare."

"Don't worry so, Miyabi-chan," said Nodoka soothingly. "Things will

work out for the best in the end. You should know more than any of us."

As all things go, the night had to end. In its wake, several people

were left disappointed.

Mousse was sore from the repeated maulings at the hands of Shampoo

(and on occasion, Dr. Tofu, via Shampoo). Shampoo got nowhere with Ranma,

mainly because coming on to him in front of Nodoka meant certain death for

her airen.

Ryouga was as tongue-tied as ever around Akane, and once again failed

to make progress.

Ukyou stayed by 'Ranko's' side, but aside from small talk, failed to

get any sort of romantic mood going. No progress forward, she thought,

but no steps back either.

Tofu stuttered and stammered his way out the door and mentally

berated himself for not having some self-control around Kasumi yet again.

The only ones that were happy were Miyabi and Nodoka, who spent much

of the rest of the night talking, laughing, and generally bonding before

she said her goodbyes and departed before the hour became too late.

To make sure that she arrived at the train station safely, Ranko

offered to walk her there. As a consequence, so did Akane, Miyabi,

Ryouga, Ukyou, Shampoo and Mousse.

It could be said that no woman was safer from attack that night.

As the silence of the house settled in, Soun and Mr. Panda sighed.

"Ah, Saotome, we survive yet another perilous..."

/Perilous...?/

"... another perilous dinner."

/Indeed we did, Tendo./

"So, let's get ready for tomorrow night," said Soun with a grin.

/Tomorrow night? What's tomorrow night?/

"The same thing we do every night, Saotome - try to get our children

married!"

Soun and the panda went into a small fit of evil laughter that echoed

eerily through the house and even flowed through the air of Nerima's night

skies, even causing Kodachi to shiver.

[much, much later]

Childra yawned. Dawn was breaking through the window. "That was

possibly the most boring night I've ever spent with two men," she

announced.

"I told you you didn't have to stay." Ryo fished in his pocket for

his wallet. "You two really weren't much of a help, staring over my

shoulder the whole night like that." He flipped through the pictures,

then selected one.

"Is that you and your fiancee?" Ishido asked.

"Yes," Ryo whispered.

"She looks a lot like Kasumi. And if your recent actions are any

guide, you probably don't deserve her."

"I've thought the same thing many, many times." Ryo traced a heart

around the faces, then carefully cut around his tracing with his sonic

penknife. The picture went in the now-cooled locket, and it closed with a

sharp snap.

"Is it done?"

"I need a chain."

Childra sighed, then unfastened the necklace she was wearing. "You

owe Akane now, too."

Ryo slipped the locket onto the thin silver chain. "I'll pay her

back." He slipped the locket over his neck. "But first I have some

unfinished business to take care of."

"Huh? Oh, no you don't, Bucko. You're not leaving by yourself."

Childra reached past Ishido and grabbed at Ryo's sleeve.

Then Happosai hopped through the window, back from his

Saotome-induced flight across town.

Ishido was torn. Childra wanted Ryo stopped, but Happosai was a

greater threat to her. Threat won out over desire; glass rained down as

Happosai went flying back out the window. Childra shouted and tried to

regain her balance; her lover had pushed her to safety. More importantly,

he'd pushed her away from Ryo, and with a burst of emerald fire, the

pig-tailed boy was gone.

"Ow." said Childra.

"Did I make the wrong choice?"

"Honesty, Lobis, I'm not sure...

-end act 4-

"Warriors, warriors we call ourselves. We fight for splendid virtue,

for high endeavor, for sublime wisdom, therefore we call ourselves warriors."

-Aunguttara Nikaya

email: geist .edu

Annotations for Act 4

"Bakusai-ten-satsu." Translates, roughly, into 'Breaking Poinit Kill.' Originally from "The Pursuit of Happiness" by Rod M. - "She rummaged through her closets, trying to find that bottle she always kept for Lardi... Oh. There it was." 'Lardi...' refers to Lardizibal, a character from David Tai's 'Daigakusei no Ranma', created by David Tai and Paul Galleos. - "I do. Her name is Spring." Spring is the daughter of Ranma Saotome and Shampoo. She comes from Ross McKenzie's "Descents and Inversions".


	5. Chapter 5

Act 5

The story so far...

ACT I:

In an alternate reality where Ranma married Shampoo, their

daughter had somehow obtained a magic locket that allowed her to cross

dimensions. A few accidents later, several of Ranma's 'children' from

various realities ended up in one reality, where Ranma was still a

teen-age youth. One among them, Ryo Saotome (son of Ranma and Ukyou)

managed to get a hold of the locket before Cologne was about to do

something devious with it. Following his victory, Ryo sent all the

children of Ranma &amp; company to their proper realities, and then

prepared to go home himself. Something, however, went wrong. He ended

up in a bizarre version of Tokyo in 2096 and accidentally dragged

along Ratiko Hibiki and Childra Jansen in his attempt to fix this

mistake. That attempt dragged him to two other realities with amazing

speed. From them, he accidentally brought Miyabi, daughter of Ranma

and Akane, and Ishido, a mysterious amnesiac hunted by a shadowy

organisation. Finally, they stopped in a reality where Ranma &amp; co.

were still teens, but had never met them before. And now...

ACT II:

Childra, curious as to what caused their dimensional/reality

shift, watched Ryo Saotome closely, and discovered that the locket is

the source of their troubles. She tried, and succeeded, in stealing

the locket from him without his noticing. Ratiko schemed to make sure

that the history of his world takes place, and began a plan to kill

Ranma and frame Miyabi for the murder. He succeeded in getting a blood

sample from her and a torn piece of her clothing, but was interrupted

before he could go through with his plan. In a talk with Ishido, he

found out about a certain umbrella-wielding maniac threatening to kill

Ryouga in Ishido's reality. In a panic, Ratiko rushed to Childra, and

accidentally triggered the locket. The three of them found themselves

on a bridge somewhere. Before they left, they accidentally dragged

along Ryo Muhoshin, a person that looked amazingly like Hikaru

Gosunkugi, but in truth was a bit more devious. Bringing him along,

the four crossed several realities, narrowly escaping danger, capture,

and death. Then they returned to the Nerima they had left from, with

an irate Ryo Saotome waiting for them. Meanwhile, Miyabi had put up

with the antics of her grandparents (Soun and Genma) who were

overjoyed at her existence, distressed at the way her parents were

fighting, greatly annoyed at her trans-dimensonal half brother Ryo

Saotome, and had decided that a talk with Grandmother Nodoka was in

order.

ACT III:

Miyabi went to Nodoka's to talk, unaware that Ranma's life was in

danger due to the promise Genma made to Nodoka regarding manliness and

Ranma's upbringing. The end result was that Nodoka was invited to

dinner, expecting to see her son, daughter-in-law, and granddaughter.

Miyabi's age, almost that of Ranma, was, unfortunately, not forseen as

a major problem by Miyabi. Upon returning from her accidental trip

through time, Childra surrendered the locket to Ryo Saotome once

again. Meanwhile, the extra passenger they picked up along the way,

Ryo Muhoshin, passed himself off as 'Ryo Gosunkugi, son of Gosunkugi

and Ukyou' and had everyone fooled. Nabiki got a hold of the material

Ratiko was planning to frame Miyabi with and used it to blackmail him

into buying her dinner, among other things. They end up at Ucchan's,

where he washed dishes to pay for things. He eventually got drunk,

hit on Ukyou, and was knocked out by a blow to the head. Childra and

Ishido became more... intimately attached. When his guard was down,

Ryo Saotome was knocked out by Ryo Muhoshin, who then accidentally

triggered the locket and disappeared into times and places unknown.

Ryo Saotome woke up much later to find the locket gone, an image of it

burned in his hand, and discovered what was inside the locket:

A picture of him and Bell-chan, his fiancee.

ACT IV:

Ryo Saotome began making plans to assemble the locket that he was

apparently destined to create (the photo from the locket being proof

of that). Meanwhile, Ratiko spent the day with Nabiki, buying her

food and treats while also beginning to feel somewhat attracted to

her. Ishido and Childra sorted through their fears and anxieties, but

in the end came together in a happy reunion within the local

graveyard. Miyabi &amp; the Tendo household held a dinner for Nodoka, who

was expecting to see her son at last. What happened instead was that

she had an interesting experience with a time traveler (Happosai) and

realized that Miyabi was, in fact, Ranma's daughter from the future.

She also assumed that 'Ranko' was Genma's daughter from an affair.

Soun briefly assumed Akane was Genma's child from an affair with his

deceased wife. Things got ugly, but got better again as they usually

did (although Nodoka still thinks Ranko is Genma's illegitimate

child). Meanwhile, Under the distrustful eyes of Childra and Ishido,

Ryo Saotome used the arcane resources within Happosai's room to create

the locket.

And then he vanished.

Jade fire engulfed Ryo, and he burned. _Green?_ he thought.

_It shouldn't be green. And I don't remember this much pain._

Ryo concentrated, fighting past the agony, willing his way

back to reality, or the local equivalent thereof. The emerald flames

thinned. He found himself lying on a cold surface, smoke rising from

his clothes. And he heard someone crying.

There was something familiar about those tears, something more

painful than the fires that delivered him to this world. "Bell-chan?"

he whispered.

The crying stopped. "Who are you?" the girl asked. "What are

you doing here?" There was hysteria in her voice, trapped within the

sobbing. "I thought they were going to leave me alone."

Ryo rolled to his feet. "Bell-chan, don't you know me?" They

were in a room no more than three paces wide on a side, but the

pig-tailed boy held back, afraid of her answer.

"No, I don't know you. Is this another test? I thought you

were through with that." The girl looked up from where she sat curled

up on a bench, the cell's only furniture. "I thought you were ready

to decide my fate."

"I've learned you make your own fate," Ryo mused. A more

frantic mind would have accepted only one possibility, that something

had happened to his one true love, but Ryo knew the perils of

traveling between realities. _So close!_ his mind screamed at him.

_So close!_ But now he saw the differences, the slightly darker eyes,

the more pouting lips, the subtle nuances of body language that told

him this woman was not his fiancee, and that this was not his world.

Still, she was _his_ Bell-chan's doppelganger, and she was in

distress. Ryo had promised himself he wouldn't hold the crimes of one

duplicate against another reality's counterpart, but the inverse held

as well. He could not help but give credit to the face of someone he

respected, and that went a hundred times over for Bell-chan.

"Of course you make your own fate," the faux Bell-chan said.

"That's the purpose of these new 'Consistency Courts,' isn't it? To

judge you by the rules you've made yourself."

"Consistency Courts? Judge?" Ryo took a step back in

confusion, bumping up against the cell door. "I don't understand. I

know someone like you enough to be your twin, and I can't imagine her

ever being tried for _any_ crime."

Bell-chan laughed. Ryo shivered; there was no levity in that

laugh, only mockery and self pity. It reminded him of Tachi's aunt.

"Of course you can't imagine me on trial. Who would ever have

imagined that sweet, innocent Belladonna would kill her own mother?

Not even to ease her suffering? And since no one would believe it,

they'll find me guilty." She swallowed. "A year ago I wouldn't have

believed it. A few months later, though..." The tears started up

again, drowning out any other words.

_Belladonna?_ Ryo's sleep-deprived mind whirled. _She killed

Kasumi?_ He backed himself into the corner, trying to get far away

from the monster wearing his beloved's flesh. _What hell have I

damned myself to? This is not my world. This is not my fiancee.

Belldandy is a goddess on earth, not a matricide._

In answer to his unvoiced plea, the locket hung around Ryo's

neck blazed with bright green fire and tore him from the cell.

Ryo Muhoshin was ABOUT to send Ryo Saotome to some place

unpleasant.

About to.

Except just when he was about to do the deed, the locket suddenly

came to life, engulfing him with azure flames and blinding him with

the sudden brightness. He felt the ground beneath him shift slightly

and the world around him was consumed in a blinding flash of azure

flame.

"Eh?"

He stumbled forward, unsure of his surroundings and still blinded

by the flash of light. At this point, he discovered (the hard way)

that he was at the top of a modest skyscraper.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaagggh..."

Fortunately, there was a dumpster below.

*WHAM*

Unfortunately, the stuff inside wasn't that soft.

"OW!"

Fortunately he was spared an hour of pain by being knocked

unconscious.

The nighttime sky in Tokyo was fairly nondescript, mainly

because it was gray and drizzling for a day now and looked to be going

on for the next several weeks. Detective Ed Ryouga Marlowe, homicide

division, Ministry of Sanitation looked up into the night sky from his

vintage 1996 Hyundai. He thought he saw a flash of light up there in

the clouds...

"Now my eyes are going bad," he muttered to himself, and drove

on.

In a trash bin, hidden in the shadows of the skyscrapers, a

loud scream of horror and frustration boomed out as someone suddenly

landed from a 90 floor drop and into a trash bin. Nearby, something

metallic sounding bounced along the pavement and finally settled on

the sidewalk.

A vagrant, hungry, tired, and weary, saw all this and merely

shrugged. Must've been one of the old faithful of the Nabiki regime

gone suicide after the downfall of their leader. Sorta thing happened

often enough nowadays.

He blinked.

There seemed to be something on the ground.

Something shiny.

Something silver.

Looked nice. He figured he could get a pack of MacNougets for

it. Not very tasty, but cheap.

The fall into the dumpster was bad enough to leave him sore

all over. Muhoshin limped out into the dim light of a streetlamp and

leaned on it warily.

He blinked.

There was definitely something wrong here.

Something... missing?

He checked his right pocket, then his left. He checked his

shirt pocket. He checked his back pockets.

"Nooooo. Not fair! NOT FAIR! NO!"

The locket was gone. He immediately fell to his knees and

began looking for it.

A group of construction workers walked by as he frantically

searched the ground. Someone tapped him on the shoulder. "Hey, you,

get outta the way, people are walking through here."

Not in the mood for snide remarks, Muhoshin looked up, ready

to break the offender's nose.

Then he saw his face.

And his friend's faces.

And a few dozen faces walking by.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!"

Ryouga shook his head sadly as he watched the strange guy run

off like a maniac. "Jeez, more sanitarium escapees running around the

streets these days. Ministry of Sanitation oughta see about that."

"No kidding," said the other Ryouga.

"C'mon, let's get to work," said yet another Ryouga. "The

construction site was around here somewhere..."

The city was bleak. Bleak, ugly, modern, and busy.

Normally, Muhoshin wouldn't have minded this, might even have

approved. That was a Ryo Muhoshin with a purpose in life, money in

his pocket, and a locket in his hand.

Most importantly, it was a Muhoshin who didn't see hordes of

Ryougas everywhere

The way things were at the moment, he hated the city and everyone

in it. Especially the logically-certainly-probably nonexistent

Ryougas. The place was in desperate need, he thought, of urban

renewal. The thermonuclear kind.

His stomach growled, and he winced. He'd been wandering the

streets, doing a little scouting, waiting for his head to clear and

the Ryougas to vanish. He was beginning to realize that he'd been

doing this for almost two days. Time to get some food, sit down for a

second, and...think. He had passed a tiny bar and grill a few blocks

back, that should do nicely.

He turned around, and strode off, his step going from an aimless

stumble to a purposeful stride. Yes, this had been a good idea. Just

the knowledge that he was going _somewhere_ picked him up a bit, began

to ease him out of his depression.

He reached the bar, opened the door, and there was Ryouga. And

Ryouga. Ryouga was there as well, as were Ryouga and Ryouga.

The whole place was one big Ryouga-fest.

His temples began to throb, and he slowly forced himself to close

his eyes and slow his breathing. They weren't really there.

It was JUST a hallucination. Had to be.

Be steady, just stay calm...

"Either come in or get out!"

That was Ryouga's voice, all right.

"Yeah, yer letting in a draft!"

And that one, only from a different part of the room, was his too.

No.

Calm, calm, must stay calm.

He opened his eyes and walked slowly across the room, nervously

eying the patrons. Odd, really. Why was he imagining Ryouga dressed as

a horde of bikers?

"Whadda ya want?" asked Ryouga, from his position behind the bar.

Your severed, bloody head on a platter. "I'll have some tea."

"We got beer."

Die slowly and painfully. "Aheh. Water. And a sandwich."

The bartender grunted, and Ryo slumped against the bartop. They

weren't really Ryougas. His addled brain was just making them look and

sound like them. Why, by this time Hibiki would have...

Wait a minute. Why was there a hand on his thigh?

"Hello, big boy," said a Ryouga.

Outside, the sound of horrified screaming was heard, quickly

replaced by the sound of extreme violence.

o/~ CRAZY...from the things that I can see

YOU CAN'T HEAR THEM...only talkin' at me

LIVING ON THE OUTSIDE...looking inside to

Be free...o/~

Ryo Muhoshin distractedly smashed the ghetto blaster over the

cranium of its owner. He looked like Ryouga, so he had it coming. The

song was annoying. Aimed at him. He wasn't crazy. No, no, no, no, no

not very crazy, even if the RYOUGA HIBIKI(s?) WERE EVERYWHERE

EVERYWHERE EVERYWHERE no, no, despite that he was sane.

Ryouga...

Muhoshin shuddered, and firmly reminded himself that that _hadn't_

been his hated enemy. No, Ryouga wasn't like that (please, please,

please) it had just been someone who his rather concussed (NOT CRAZY

NOT CRAZY) mind had made to look like his hated enemy. No, Ryouga

wasn't like that (please) it had just been someone who his wrath...

With an effort, he pulled his thoughts from the circular track they

had been wearing in his brain.

A low growl from his stomach reminded him that he still had his

initial problem. Namely, he had no food, he hadn't slept in hours, he

was unbearably tired, and his immediate goal seemed to be wandering

aimlessly.

Wandering aimlessly was far too Ryouga-like to be tolerated.

There. A diner. It was grimy and small and full of neon light and

glare, but so was everywhere here, including the street. And the

street didn't have a special on coffee and donuts.

The street did, however, have a cash machine. He was named Sean

Ryouga Izigawa. Muhoshin, of course, never learned this tidbit of

information. All he knew and cared about was that he looked like

Ryouga and looked almost wealthy.

He had a ATM card. It was called an umbrella.

He used the blunt end to make a withdrawal.

[A Hibiki and his money are soon parted.] Ryo thought, walking

inside the diner. [If that's not a proverb, it should be.]

Unlike the Hibiki bar, the diner was almost homey.

Formica, a rather odd clock shaped like a cat with swinging eyes

and tail, a jukebox which obviously hadn't worked in years, his

mother, and a long row of Men In Gray Suits.

He blinked. Item four on that list did not match his admittedly

shaky notions of reality.

Oh. It wasn't his mother, it was only Kasumi.

There _did_ seem to be an awful lot of Kasumi about too. And

Akane. And that other Tendou sister. Odd, that.

Still, he could think of worse people to see. Making his way over

to a free table, he sat down and began to relax just a bit.

Glasses clinked. Silverware rattled. The Men In Gray Suits made

murmuring noises and watched TV in between bites of dinner. Diner

noises. Normal, blessedly Hibiki-free sounds.

"Are you ready to order?"

He looked up, startled. Kasumi was smiling down at him, an order

pad in her hands. Of course, she was the waitress. The apron normally

would have tipped him off, but aprons were standard issue with most

Kasumis.

"Er, sure. I'll have...one moment..." He thumbed rapidly through

his new wallet; not nearly as much as he had hoped. "I'll have the

coffee and crullers."

She smiled, a warm, sincere thing that differed dramatically from

the plastic variety waitresses normally handed out. "Okay. Back in a

bit."

He watched as she walked off, and he felt, oddly, a little better.

/And in today's news, another store was hit in a

smash-and-grab robbery. Several suits were stolen, and the store's

safe was emptied. This is the fourth of a rash of.../

"Terrible, isn't it?" asked Kasumi.

"Oh, certainly," agreed Muhoshin, brushing a little lint off

of his newly acquired clothing. "So, do you like my new suit?" He

stood up from the counter stool and posed a bit, showing off the gray

Armani.

"It's nice! I like it a lot," said Kasumi.

"Thank you miss," said Muhoshin with a grin.

"But I'm not sure about those black leather gloves. And no

need to be formal. You've been coming to this diner so much now it

seems like you belong here, Ryo-kun."

"Oh, aheheh, sorry, Miss Kasumi, it's just the way I am."

"My name," she replied, poking him in the nose gently, "is

Ami. A-mi. We've been through this already, ne? And here's your

coffee."

"Thanks, and sorry, sorry." Ryo unfolded his newspaper and

sipped his coffee with a smile. "I ever tell you how much you remind

me of my mom?"

"Oh, stop that," she replied with a giggle. Ami the Kasumi

Extender Waitress patted him on the arm and went around to serve the

other customers.

She sometimes wondered about Mr. Muhoshin. The first time he

came in to the diner, he looked so _poor_ and just ordered an endless

refill of coffee whenever he visited.

But as the days passed, he seemed to have gotten some good

fortune, and lately he'd been leaving generous tips. The one thing he

always did since the start was come around on her shift. She sensed

that he was looking at her sometimes, and she couldn't help but blush.

Did he like her? She looked over at him briefly, and caught him

looking at her again. She smiled.

Muhoshin mentally stumbled as the Kasumi extender caught him

staring at her. He'd been hoping that this odd little vision problem

of his would go away, any minute now, but it wasn't. Muhoshin had

been stuck for two weeks now, stranded in this strange sort of

reality. He was still seeing hundreds of Nabikis, Akanes, Kasumis,

and annoyingly, Ryougas.

He did what any person trying to hang on to their sanity would

do.

Ignore it.

At least, he _tried_ to ignore it. He'd occasionally trip a

Ryouga or shove one into traffic, but it was by reflex. They

_couldn't_ all be Ryougas, and if those _weren't_ Ryougas he was

looking at, then getting them killed might draw the wrong kind of

attention.

It wouldn't be worth the trouble he'd get if he killed a

Ryouga and it turned out to be just a hallucination. It'd be a sick

tease.

This, he felt, was one twisted world.

Despite that, he felt content to hang around at this cozy

diner. Maybe the waitress looked quite a bit like his mom (as well as

several thousand other girls in the city), maybe she was just a

hallucination of his, but she was nice, polite, and friendly. And

there was that... that... that _something_ about her that made him

feel... well... odd. But not in a bad way, certainly not.

The Men In Gray Suits laughed silently as a comedian made

admiring fun of Ukyou Kuonji on the TV. Ryo was surprised to find that

the sound didn't irritate him. In fact, he was actually smiling a bit.

Some of them might have money, but he would never hurt them. The

diner was Ami's.

The streets were his, though, and business was good.

The sun rose.

The birds warbled.

Ten thousand Ryougas marched through the city.

It was a normal day for Ryo Muhoshin.

He woke up, walked a bit, mugged a few people, and walked a bit

more.

Then he had lunch. If he had done particularly well, he allowed

himself a second espresso. Today was one of those.

Then came the afternoon robberies. Jewelry stores had jewelry and

armed guards and alarms. Pawn shops had jewelry. He emptied three

different shops, then called it a day.

He whistled his way into the diner, cheerfully called a greeting to

the Men In Gray Suits, dropped a dime in the broken jukebox out of

pure whimsy, and chatted with Ami as she brought him his club

sandwich.

Being stranded here, he was beginning to realize, wasn't so bad

after all. Sure his little vision trouble was still there, but he was

beginning to look at it as something nearing an asset. After all, he

got to beat up Ryouga, take his money, spit in his face, and walk away

chuckling. Every day. Multiple times.

He had been worried about the police catching him. Then he realized

that the police here were under-funded, overstretched, and on occasion

incompetent. They had as much chance of catching him as they did a

microbe.

And he had Ami to talk to, which was undeniably nice. He had

forgotten that simple conversation could make one feel good.

No, this really wasn't that bad.

It was a normal day for Ryo Muhoshin.

"Hey, Muhoshin," asked Ami.

"Hm?"

"What'cha doing later?"

"A little business, I guess you might call it. Why'd you

ask?"

"Oh, nothing." Ami smiled. "Just thought we might want to go

somewhere later, I dunno." Ryo looked at her oddly, then resumed

reading the paper.

"Hm... tell you what," said Muhoshin. "I'll treat you out to

dinner tonight, okay?"

The night was a rather whirlwind event for him, entirely

unused to being in the company of a woman, much less making a woman

smile. Much to his alarm, she had led the way, bringing them to THIS

cafe and THAT club and THIS scenic view of the city in the park... he

just wasn't used to it at all, but was enjoying himself rather

immensely. And without having to beat the hell out of someone else,

too.

It was an entirely alien feeling for him.

As was the concept of a romantic stroll 'round the city, which

he was doing now. Although he wasn't doing too bad, strolling

casually with Ami's arm entwined with his. Fortunately, he didn't

realize he had a somewhat awkward and goofy grin on his face.

"Ryo-kun?"

"Hm ah er uh wha? Y-yes, Miss Kasumi?"

"Thanks for taking me out tonight."

Muhoshin laughed. "Ah, I think it's you that's shown me the

town tonight... yes?"

Ami laughed with him. "I guess so, but still... I had a

wonderful time with you. See you tomorrow?" she asked.

"Hrm? Wha? See me tomorrow? Oh! Yes, of course."

"Well, there's my apartment," sighed Ami, pointing to an

apartment complex nearby. "Good night." Then she did something that

drained Muhoshin out of any sense at all, sent his mind reeling, and

made him forget all the old memories that made him the stylish little

bastard that he thought himself to be.

She kissed him.

Only on the cheek, but again, all this was something entirely

new to him.

As she walked away, Ami couldn't help but giggle a little at

the silly grin that was plastered to his face. She couldn't wait till

tomorrow.

Ryo, meanwhile, was looking at his Ami, hearing really nice

violins and birds with ribbons flying about and all that other odd

romantic special effects nonsense. He wasn't entirely sure, but he

thought he could be in love, which was all at the same time an

unbelievable high and a truly horrifying possibility.

And as his Ami was a block away, in the doorway of the

apartment complex, she turned back, smiled at him... and then there

was a Ryouga blocking the view.

And it looked quite upset.

Isamu Ryouga Daimon was not having a good day. He'd been

'activated' just a month ago, and there was an error in shipping. The

persons he was sent to were apparently expecting a fiancee for their

son. Needless to say, he was promptly rejected. Due to a problem in

the paperwork, he couldn't be returned to the MoD, so he was SOLD

instead to a factory. A sweatshop, really. Lousy pay and a real ass

of a boss. Despite all this, he managed to scratch out a meager

living, barely keeping up with payments for the ultra-tiny apartment

of his.

Then he was fired.

Then he lost his apartment.

Then he was just mugged. Ten minutes ago.

Isamu held his head in his hands, rubbing his temples.

[Dammit, this is NOT a GOOD day.] He wanted to go out there and KILL

his boss, KILL his landlord, and KILL the punks that mugged him. KILL

KILL KILL. He had this throbbing headache...

Then a car drove by, splashing him with mud and water.

Somewhere in his mind, something burned away.

"I'M NOT TAKING THIS ANYMORE!"

The maddened extender suddenly felt a massive headache, and

his anger surged to a berzerker peak. He looked around for someone to

hurt, someone to PAY for the lousy day he was having. With reckless

abandon, he tore a streetlamp down and flung it into the street. The

extender stomped away as cars swerved and the beginnings of a massive

pileup began. He swung his fists wildly, striking randomly at people

passing by. A man was flung through a window, a woman felt her ribs

crack from a wild punch, and then another woman was flung against a

brick wall, her head hitting brick and blood trailing from her mouth

as she slumped to the floor.

Ryouga swung wildly again, but this time his fist was caught.

He found himself flung into a dark alley.

A skinny figure paced angrily towards him, twirling an

umbrella.

"Damn you," the figure said, "damn you to hell."

There was a flash of metal, a gasp for air, then silence.

In a dark alley a dead body was being dragged. It was being

dragged by a very incredibly upset person, who had just had his first

love killed before his eyes.

Muhoshin was feeling week and feeling lonely and feeling angry

and this feeling was just TOO familiar and he was feeling generally

belittled by the world and REALLY felt like lashing out at it for just

daring to continue existing after Ryouga... damn Ryouga...

He sighed, tossed Ryouga's body into a dumpster, then slowly

sank to his knees.

For the first time in a very long time, he started to cry.

A Week Later...

"More coffee?" asked the waitress.

"Yes, please." Muhoshin smiled unevenly as the Kasumi

refilled his coffee mug. He felt as if he had passed a major point in

his life. He had been, in the past, somewhat underhanded, somewhat

dishonest, but now he had blood on his hands.

Ryouga had killed her.

No reason, no reason at all.

He just came out of nowhere and killed her.

So what else was there to do? He killed Ryouga. An eye for

an eye, right? It was, at first, somewhat shocking, and a sick

feeling almost began to overwhelm him. He'd hurt people before, even

crippled them... but to actually kill was... it was just different.

But in the end, a peculiar calm overcame him. He watched

Ryouga's dying twitches with fascination, wondering what was going

through his mind. Fear? Hate? Regret? The mysteries of life?

Murder wasn't so bad, or so hard. In fact, it was easy too...

But Ryouga wasn't dead.

Wasn't dead.

He was evERyWHeRe.

The question of the hoards of Ryougas, Kasumis, and others

wasn't really in his mind anymore. It didn't matter. Were there a

thousand Ryougas walking the streets? So be it! He did it again,

Ryouga did. Just strolled into Muhoshin's life and took away

something that was important to him. He took away Kasu... Ami. That

was her name. Ami. Maybe there was a thousand other Kasumis in this

city, but they just weren't quite the same. The were a row of Men In

Gray Suits here, but they weren't his. None of them knew his name.

None of them told him the latest joke. They didn't know him, and

neither did the Kasumi who had filled his cup. None of the Kasumis

were players in his play, save as props in the background.

But... they still were the innocent ones in this Hibiki

infested city, and someone had to keep things in line, right? He owed

it to Ami to clean out the Hibiki infestation.

His logic, after a few more anxiety attacks of confusion and

paranoia, was shortened and simplified to this: Ryouga-] kill /

Kasumi-] defend. Not much else to think about. Why were there a

thousand Ryougas out there? Why ask why? That only leads to a

headache.

As he finished his drink and left, he left the usual fairly

big tip to the girl. She was a Kasumi, so she had it coming.

Especially when that cash was from a few Ryougas he killed. He hummed

a little tune he heard once, somewhere, somewhen...

o/" Once that you've decided on a killing, o/"

o/" First you make a stone of your heart. o/"

o/" And if you find that your hands are still willing, o/"

o/" Then you can turn a murder into art. o/"

If that was the case, he thought, then he decided that he

would be every bit as great as Da Vinci, Bosch, and even Dali.

He really liked Dali.

Somewhere, in a small pawn shop, a small, battered, silver

locket was laid out under a glass counter. It was a fairly plain and

ordinary locket, next to necklaces and bracelets of gold in good

condition. With such trinkets around it, who would even want to buy

it? The owner of the pawn shop bought it from the street bum out of

kindness... but he didn't think that anyone would really buy it from

him.

Although...

Sometimes he'd swear that it flickered.

[Meanwhile, somewhere else...]

An explosion rocked the temple. Keiichi looked up from his

textbook. "Urd?" he asked.

Belldandy set her knitting down and cocked her head to one

side, listening to echoes of magic. "No, that was Skuld." A second

explosion shook the walls, filling the air with the tang of ozone.

"That one was Urd."

Pictures rattled in their frames and glasses threatened to

leap from their coasters as the goddesses of past and future continued

their argument. "Why don't we go outside?" Keiichi suggested.

Belldandy nodded, so together they gathered their belongings and

tiptoed out to the patio. Dust and smoke followed them out the door.

"It looks like we got out just in time."

Belldandy didn't answer; her eyes had a glazed, faraway look.

"Is something wrong?" Keiichi asked.

"Someone just gated in."

"Who!" Keiichi demanded. His textbook fell to the ground as

he interposed himself between Belldandy and the temple. "Is it

Marller?"

"No, it's a-"

"Hey, Belldandy!" Urd called. "You'd better come take a look

at this."

"He seems familiar," Keiichi declared.

"Yeah," Urd agreed. "He looks like one of those guys I was

sharing a house with a couple months back."

"What do we do with him?" Skuld asked.

Belldandy returned with a pillow and a blanket. "We make him

comfortable until he wakes up, of course." She studied the large bump

on his head and noted how his hair, particularly the braided pigtail,

was standing on end. "I wonder how he managed to get hurt."

"Uh, good question, Belldandy," Urd stammered. Skuld

whistled, trying her best to hide Mjolnir 2.0 behind her back.

"Bell-chan," the boy whispered as Belldandy tucked the blanket

under his chin. He thrashed, tearing himself free, then settled

again.

"He seems to know you." Keiichi possessively stepped closer

to his significant other.

"I've never seen him before." She reached out again, her palm

cupping a glowing ball of energy. Green fire flared from the locket

around his neck. Startled, she pulled back.

"Pretty hot stuff," Urd commented.

Skuld produced a pair of goggles from Hammerspace. "Do that

again, Oneesama. I want to get some readings."

"Are you sure that's safe?" Keiichi asked. In his mind he saw

visions of the temple exploding.

The look Skuld shot him would have burned through steel, if

her glasses had been configured to do that.

Belldandy reached out again. Emerald energy poured from the

silver heart, fountaining around her like a transformation effect.

"Fascinating," Skuld declared. "The power is similar to yours,

Oneesama, so it's producing a harmonic wave amplification increase.

It's just slightly out of synch, though, and that's what's causing the

pyrotechnics."

"So what you're saying," Keiichi surmised, "is that it needs a

tune-up."

Skuld huffed. "In layman's terms, yes." She pushed her

goggles to the top of her head. "It's really much more complicated

than that."

"Well." Urd cracked her knuckled. "When do we get started?"

The three goddesses clustered in the kitchen, leaving Keiichi

to watch their newest visitor. "I still think it needs more salt,"

Urd complained.

"Nuh uh!" Skuld countered as she stirred the steaming

cauldron. "That would make him explode. We're already close to the

limit as it is."

Urd smirked. "What's life without risks?" Skuld stuck out

her tongue in rebuttal.

"Enough!" Belldandy demanded. "It's ready." She set the

stove to "simmer," then stretched her arms wide. The goddess markings

on her face began to glow, and a wind from elsewhere caught her hair.

Bend, oh Time and Space,

listen to wishes, answer dreams;

the Worlds That Are beckon.

Skuld took up the incantation next; her face shining like an

LCD screen in the growing light of the spell.

Bend, oh Time and Space,

follow patterns, obey rules;

the Worlds That Can Be are fragile.

Urd stood straight, letting the wind whip her dress as she

composed her stanza.

Bend, oh Time and Space,

remember fantasies, revisit memories;

the Worlds That Were will not be forgotten.

The room darkened; all the light was drawn into the cauldron.

It began to hiss, and steam rolled over the sides, but the surface

became still as glass. The three goddesses could see their

reflections; the images spun round and round as they continued

chanting.

A strong heart holds the key.

A clever mind solves the puzzle.

A burning love sets the stage.

We command this in the name of the goddesses of

Present

Future

and Past.

"And may you have an interesting time of it," Urd added.

"No!" Belldandy and Skuld shouted as one, but it was too late.

The cauldron exploded in a shower of bright blue light, blinding

everyone in the kitchen and washing away all sounds.

The mystery boy hadn't moved since Belldandy and the others

went into the kitchen, so Keiichi recovered his textbook and tried to

study. His grades were precarious enough with all the local zaniness;

he couldn't afford to let today's events distract him too much.

Thin beams of cerulean fire slipped between the cracks in the

door jam. Keiichi ignored them; as long as there wasn't an explosion,

everything was fine.

Then there was an explosion.

"Belldandy? Are you all right?" he called. Dense green smoke

poured from the ruins of the kitchen door, but he paid it no heed and

rushed into the room. "Is anyone hurt?"

"We're *kaff, kaff* all right," Belldandy assured him. "Let

me open a window."

"It's all *kaff* Urd's fault, anyway," Skuld announced.

"I was *koff* just trying to *koff* to liven things up."

"Um, excuse me," a new voice asked. "Does anyone need any

help?"

"Well, well, well." Urd struck a pose. "Look who's up." She

sauntered over to where Ryo stood and poked him in the chest.

"Feeling any better, Mystery Man?"

"I-" he stammered, "that is, yes. Um." He scratched his

head, gathering his thoughts. "This may sound strange, but what world

is this?"

"Midgard!" Skuld replied promptly.

Belldandy noticed Ryo's puzzled look. "That wasn't the answer

you were expecting, was it?"

Shock erased Ryo's next few words. Instead he stared at

Belldandy, unable to take his eyes away. Keiichi took exception to

this and moved closer to his goddess. "How do you know Belldandy?" he

demanded.

"Bell... dandy?" Ryo said her name slowly, tasting it. His

head bowed and his shoulders slumped. _Not so close this time, at

least, not in form._ He looked up again. "I think I know where I am,

now, and how I ended up here." He shrugged, palms up, then quickly

hid the brand behind his back. "I'm sorry I dropped in unexpected

like this. I'll be going now."

"Not so fast, hot stuff," Urd countered. "You can't just pop

in and pop out without an explanation." She gave him a full, crooked

smile. "And I just bet there's a lot more to your story than meets

the eye."

Ryo met her challenge. "How long do you have?"

"You'd be amazed," Urd answered.

[A brief explanation later...]

"I thought you looked like Ranma!" Urd declared, slapping the

table with her free hand. "So, did you inherit his... magnetic

charm?"

"No, thank God." Ryo held his teacup with both hands. "Just

his ability to attract disasters. But this transdimensional jaunt

rivals anything I ever heard him doing, at least in scope."

"And your Belldandy..."

"Sound just like yours, Keiichi." Ryo frowned. "You both act

alike, too," he told the goddess, "but you don't really look like each

other. The last Bell-chan I saw, though..." He shivered.

Belldandy poured Keiichi more tea. "So now you want to go

home."

"After I clean up the mess my fellow travelers have made."

"That's easy," Skuld declared. "You find the bugs

responsible, then you hit them." She demonstrated on a hapless

section of floor with Mjolnir 2.0.

Ryo shook his head. "It's not that easy. Finding 'Gosling'

will be like looking for a needle in a haystack." He toyed with the

locket. "I'm not even sure I can find the right farm."

"Oh, we fixed that," Urd said offhandedly. "Just think about

where you want to go, concentrate, and, 'Poof,' there you are."

"You... fixed..." He wobbled dazedly. "It took me all night

to create and cast the spell to empower this cursed thing, and even

then I still didn't get it right. The three of you just 'fixed it?'"

"I'm good with mirrors," Belldandy said proudly, "and we're

all used to magic jewelry."

"What, are you goddesses or something?"

Ryo didn't understand why everyone around him burst out

laughing.

"Remember," Skuld lectured. "Focus on where you want to go,

then activate the portal." She stood on tiptoes and poked the locket

hard; it sparked blue. "And don't let it get damaged! It's fragile

enough as it is. What made you use _silver_ of all things? Plastic

or ceramics would have worked just as well."

"Don't mind her," Urd advised. "She's always this picky."

Skuld gave her oldest sister a raspberry. "Just go with the flow.

You'll have more fun that way."

"At this point, anything that works would have to be more fun,

just by definition." Ryo took a deep breath. "All right, all of you

stand back. I don't want anyone getting caught up in this by

accident." He gave them all a wry smile. "I've had enough of that to

last a lifetime."

"Good-bye, Ryo-san"

"Good-bye, Belldandy," There was a catch in Ryo's voice; those

were two words he never liked to see in the same sentence. "I wish

you and Keiichi more happiness than I've had of late."

He closed his right hand around the locket. Blue fire burst

from between his fingers and engulfed him, then spun around him to

form a glowing azure gate. "Ryo Muhoshin, you're mine."

It was more than a month into his stay when Muhoshin decided

to explore a few nagging questions that had been on his mind before he

was unceremoniously dumped into this surreal world. It required a

little bit of research, some experimenting, and, of course, a test

subject.

In an empty warehouse, Ryouga extender awoke strapped down to

a table. Actually, he was nailed to it. He screamed in pain and

weakly tried to escape.

Sitting across from him, and watching like a spider watches a

fly, Ryo Muhoshin gazed, as if he was studying.

"LET ME GO!" screamed Ryouga.

[First things first... what did Ishido say? "punching people

with glowing gloves," yes?] That, he felt, was easily solved. He

actually wondered why he didn't think of it earlier. He put on the

leather gloves and fastened them tight, flexing his fingers. Then he

focused his ki, channeling them to his hands... and to the gloves.

They flared with bright yellow energy. He tightened one fist and

punched at one of the Ryouga's arms. There was a sickening *snap* and

more screams as the arm became horribly bent out of shape.

"And that," he mused quietly, "was with me holding back."

[What else... the one called Ishido also said something about

a needle umbrella attack... making bones explode... let's see...]

"WHAT DO YOU WANT?! WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS?!" The extender

struggled more, and more blood began to flow from the spikes that ran

through his arms and legs.

Muhoshin paused for a moment, as if thinking about that

question.

"Well, you see... you LOOK like a Ryouga to me, a lot of you

do."

"OF COURSE I DO, I'M A RYOUGA EXTENDER!"

Muhoshin frowned. "So... you _are_ Ryouga?"

"YES I'M A RYOUGA!" screamed the extender.

"Well, that's about it then."

"What are you talking about?! HEY!" ranted Ryouga, but

Muhoshin just ignored him and continued studying his victim.

[Exploding bones. Exploding. Hm. Wait, the bakusai ten-ketsu?]

The exploding point technique, or bakusai ten-ketsu, was a

technique that came close, but it did _not_ work. He poked Happosai

and the little troll didn't explode a bit.

He thought again. Needles. Why did Ishido mention a needle?

Muhoshin gave a quick glance at the Ryouga extender, examining the

breaking points on his body. When the breaking point is learned, the

person 'sees' breaking points. The curious thing was that people who

learned it saw the breaking points in a lot of places... trees, rocks,

other people... but it seemed to work mostly on rocks, and never on

people.

Why didn't it work on people?

"A-HA!" Muhoshin stood up with an evil smile. It was so

obvious now, the secret to the technique. The reason that the

breaking point had never worked on people was that the creators of the

technique never thought to compensate for all that flesh that got in

the way...

"Stay right there," said Muhoshin as he walked away, ignoring

the screams of pain from the pinned Ryouga. "Need to get something."

An hour later, Muhoshin returned with a metal spike sharpened to a

needle-sharp tip. "Stand still," he said, grinning. He saw the

point... a very precise point, much more precise than those found on

stone, but still...

The screams of pain would've been heard, if it weren't for the

noise of the traffic and construction of the city around them.

The weeks passed on, and soon two months had passed. Muhoshin was

fairly settled in, occupying the apartment of a fairly isolated

Ryouga. He'd picked this one carefully. Had no frequent visitors, and

had been recently unemployed. As he expected, nobody'd been around to

bother his privacy.

Muhoshin made a mistake on a previous Ryouga, and that

resulted in the police ousting him from his temporary abode. He had

been shot at - not in a very effective way, but still enough to make

him wish to take precautions. Hence the lightweight kevlar vest he was

wearing underneath his shirt.

He'd held back his war on Ryouga to a once a week affair. Any

more, and the pressure from the law enforcement people may become too

much. Even with only one strike a week, it was enough for the moment.

At the moment he was mulling over the month's killings as he

watched the flashing lights and heard the sirens heading his way.

_They take quite a while to get to the scene of a murder_ he mused.

It is said that criminals always return to the scene of the

crime. In Muhoshin's case, he just stayed a while longer. He'd just

finished off another Ryouga and was relaxing in the after-glow of

murder high atop the rooftops. He watched carefully as the police

arrived on the scene of his last workout. He thought he saw something

interesting last time, but was too far away. Now he was observing

from a safe and good vantage point, with some binoculars. As usual,

the police arrived far too late, taped off the area for investigation,

called in other police, examined the body... ah.

There it was.

Ryouga Hibiki.

Ryouga Hibiki AS A COP.

Tsk, corruption in the law enforcement agency. How could they

let RYOUGA into the police? No, no, no. This would have to be fixed,

and soon. He strolled away upon the ledges of the building for

several blocks, unseen by all, then jumped off, opening his umbrella,

and floated into an empty alley.

Moonlight, a cool breeze, only a few clouds in the sky.

It seemed like a good night for a stroll, and to plan future

recreational ventures with glee.

Meanwhile... a little later...

High atop the Daitokuji Towers, a circle of fire suddenly

flared into being, then transformed into a swirling column, with the

outline of a man within. Then, the fires flickered out, leaving a boy

with a pig-tail standing there. Ryo Saotome looked around carefully,

wondering if he'd finally made it to the right destination.

"Now, where am I."

Whatever reality this was, it looked to him to be an

industrial/corporational world gone wild. Skyscrapers were all around

him, with interconnecting tunnel tubes linking the buildings. Video

screens flickered everywhere promoting governmental ideals.

Ryo froze a moment as he stared at the screen in disbelief:

there, larger than life, was an image of his mother, Ukyou Kuonji.

The subtitles under her name read /Ministry of Finance/ and it

seemed that she was saying something about the state of the economy.

[Mom? A government leader? Wow.] Ryo was speechless. He

knew his mother could run a business well, but an entire national

economy? He found himself wondering if there was another Ryo Saotome

around here, and maybe even another Bell-chan. He shook that thought

off quickly. Even if there was a Bell-chan here, it wasn't _his_

Bell-chan. Besides, there was another person he was looking for.

Ryo looked down at the street below and saw a familiar figure

standing by a storefront window, gaping at something. [There you

are,] he thought. [Time to end this].

Muhoshin stood in front of the store, his jaw dropping in

disbelief. It was, he thought, amazing what one finds during a

leisurely stroll.

It was HERE.

The LOCKET.

In a simple pawn shop display case!

This changed everything. Now he could go anyWHERE, anyWHEN.

The plans to toy with that Ryouga cop would have to be put on hold,

there were bigger fish to fry.

He held back the urge to laugh, twirled his umbrella happily,

and walked into the store.

Why, with it he could go to what was _surely_ the source of

all his woes, Ryouga from _his_ world. He didn't know why that would

be, but he was sure Ryouga was to blame somehow for all this mess,

especially Ami's death.

Ami.

He could go back and...

No.

It would be Ami, but it wouldn't be _his_ Ami. She'd be some

other Ryo Muhoshin's Ami, and the one thing he didn't care to do is

get him angry or envious over himself.

Wait.

That didn't sound quite right.

"Damn, I have a headache," he muttered.

No, enough of this. He was going back to where he belonged,

and he'd put an end to Ryouga once and for all. Even if he had to

kill him a hundred times over.

He strolled casually into the pawn shop, smashed the display

case, took the locket, and ignored whatever prattling the store owner

was saying.

The proprietor was Hibiki. He thought about it. Muhoshin

calmly grabbed Ryouga's face and rammed his skull into the wall.

Ryouga's lifeless body slumped to the floor, leaving a trail

of blood on the wall. "Art happens," said Muhoshin as he looked at

the red and white masterpiece that had been Hibiki. "If that isn't a

T-shirt, it should be."

Pausing only a second more to admire his work, he raised the

locket up in his clenched fist, feeling a euphoric sense of triumph.

"Bring me home."

Nothing happened.

Muhoshin stared at the sputtering, sparking locket.

"BRING ME TO MY REALITY!"

Nothing. He wondered what the hell was going wrong, but

someone else managed to interrupt that train of thought.

Ryo looked down and watched as Muhoshin lingered in front of

the storefront window. He had to get down there as fast as possible.

Were he as fit as his father, he'd have merely done a few jumps, floor

by floor to get down there.

He looked down apprehensively, and slid down a long pipe,

somewhat cautiously. Not the fastest route down, but faster than the

elevator. Then he cautiously entered the store. Fortunately, the

door was still open, so he entered quietly...

And saw Ryouga's head smashed violently into the wall.

He was speechless.

Ryo Saotome looked in horror at the streaks of blood running

down the wall and the body lying on the floor.

[He KILLED him. Oh God, he KILLED him!]

He'd known many a martial artist in his life, and seen a few

fights. His father had too. But nobody ever got hurt.

Not seriously, anyway.

Nobody got killed when he managed to stop all that madness

that Cologne had started with the locket that first time. Now it

looked like Ryouga was paying for Ryo's failure.

The game had just gotten very serious.

[He'll PAY for this!]

Muhoshin finally noticed something was wrong in the air. He

heard... breathing. Turning around, he saw a familiar looking figure

with a ponytail, and a peculiar little locket around his neck.

"You," he growled. "INCONCIEVABLE!" Wasn't that the locket?

Didn't he TAKE the locket away from him? But then he's got a locket

too? What was this?! What the _hell_ was this?!

Ryo took a small second to collect his thoughts, then looked

Muhoshin straight in the eye. In a calm, level, and threatening

voice, he said, "Muhoshin, hand back that locket."

Muhoshin scowled. "Well, give back the locket, give back the

locket... hm... hey Ryouga, what do you think?" He reached over and

turned over the dead Ryouga, and moved his jaw up and down in a

macabre puppetry show, ignoring the bloodstains he was getting on his

hand. "Give back the locket? No way!"

"I'm serious, hand it over now," said Ryo, having the distinct

feeling he was being mocked.

"Oh, he's serious!" said Muhoshin to the dead Ryouga. He

moved Ryouga's jaw up and down, saying, "Oh no! What're we gonna do,

Muhoshin?" Muhoshin replied, "Well, Ryouga, I _just_ _don't_ _know_."

"STOP IT!" yelled Ryo.

"Feh, no sense of humor, you. Ja ne Saotome." Muhoshin

concentrated on just LEAVING the area. He had yet to gauge Ryo's

abilities, but if he was anything like the other Saotome, he was

formidable enough to warrant caution.

Much to his alarm, the locket _still_ didn't work. It

sputtered even more violently, flickered a bit, but did nothing else.

Meanwhile, Ryo Saotome noticed his locket was behaving in the same way

too.

[Old fashioned escape it is, then.] He slashed out with his

umbrella, making Saotome back away, then tapped a side wall, yelling

"BAKUSAI TEN-KETSU!" Suddenly, the wall exploded with a deafening

boom, sending dust and debris everywhere.

Ryo Saotome instinctively covered his face protectively as the

explosion hit, while Ryo Muhoshin quickly scrambled out of the hastily

made exit. He bounded out into the street, looked around, then sprang

up to the second floor ledge of an adjacent building. He cursed as

the sounds of sirens echoed in the air and got closer. Muhoshin shook

his head and frowned. He did _not_ want the direct attention of the

authorities, not like this.

As he was about to make his escape, Muhoshin was tackled.

"I'm leaving and you're coming with me!" yelled Saotome, who began to

concentrate on bringing Muhoshin back to the reality where he

belonged.

To his surprise, nothing happened, although the locket was

still sparking and sputtering.

"Get... OFF!" Muhoshin squirmed, then managed to sling

Saotome over his shoulder. Ryo flailed in surprise, and managed to

get a grip on the ledge before falling off, and flipped himself back

up. He and Muhoshin eyed each other warily.

The two Ryos observed each other, and both silently took note

of something: both of their lockets were flickering much more than

usual.

Muhoshin took an experimental step forward, and the flickering

became more erratic. Ryo noticed too, and they both realized the

implications of this at the same time. The lockets interfere with

each other. Nobody was going anywhere unless one of them gave up

their locket. Exactly why this was so was a mystery to both.

"Nice nice nice niiiiice looking locket you've got there, oh

Saotome of the same name as I. You found another one of these?" asked

Muhoshin. "Wherever at?"

"I didn't-" said Ryo before he was cut off by a sudden slash

from Muhoshin. He dodged the blade, then came in with a punch of his

own. It hit solidly with Muhoshin's chest, but the only thing that

happened was a light wheeze.

Muhoshin sent a punch of his own towards Ryo, charged with ki,

and slammed into Ryo's shoulder. Saotome stumbled back from the force

of the punch and clutched his shoulder while Muhoshin looked at him,

puzzled. The force of that punch should have been enough to severely

hurt him, and especially a solid punch like that should have snapped

some bones. Saotome seemed to have taken it like an ordinary punch.

He mentally took note: Ryo Saotome - high stamina levels.

Down below, several police cars parked and spotlights were set

up. They turned them on and the two figures above blinked in reflex

and stepped away from each other.

"We do NOT have time for this," said Muhoshin, glancing at the

police down below.

"Then give that locket back and we'll all go home," replied

Saotome.

Muhoshin scowled. "Love your name, admire your obsession, but

you are REALLY beginning to bother ME."

"I'm the owner of that locket, and you're giving it back."

"Not gonna. Nonono."

"It's not right," replied Ryo.

"Not right to who?" sneered Muhoshin. "Fate has put this

little trinket into MY hands. I'm not one to argue."

"It didn't belong to you!"

"It does now."

"I can't let someone as evil as you roam free with that, you

know."

Muhoshin blinked. "Evil?"

"I'll hunt you until the end of the worlds if I have to," said

Saotome, "you're not killing another Ryouga."

"Feh! You don't understaaaand don'tdon'tdon't." Suddenly,

Muhoshin's demeanor snapped into a cold, sharp, intelligent one. "You

call me evil? Very well, I return the favor. Evil is a label we apply

to those who's goals do not walk in the same direction as ours do."

Then he snapped back into his deranged look and muttered, "some gaijin

named Vennering said that once, I think. BAKUSAITENKETSU!"

Ryo was taken by surprise as Muhoshin stabbed into the

concrete and set off another Bakusai ten-ketsu. The explosion flung

them both away and into the air as a gaping hole was left in the side

of the building.

Muhoshin used the shockwave of the blast to propel himself to

the building ledge across the way, then ran into the night.

Saotome was flung away by the blast, but landed on his feet on

the street below, where a mob of policemen immediately grabbed him.

He struggled to get free, yelling, "LET ME GO! HE'S GETTING

AWAY!"

Muhoshin looked back from a distance, smirked, then raced off

into the night.

Ryo Saotome fumed, angry at himself, as he occasionally tried

to break free of the handcuffs. He found Ryo Muhoshin, but he failed

to get the locket back. He failed, and now the element of surprise

was gone. Muhoshin knew that he was being chased now, and that's when

things get dangerous.

[What if... what if he goes after Bell-chan?] A cold fear

washed through his heart. If Muhoshin did anything to her, he'd never

forgive himself. [No, I can't start getting depressed now, gotta

think... gotta think...]

What DID he learn today? Ishido had said that while Muhoshin

had often _tried_ to kill Ryouga, and a few others, he'd never really

succeeded. Obviously, that has changed. He was a killer now,

definitely. And he had plans for that locket. Whatever those plans

were, he didn't know, but they couldn't be good. The lockets...

He smiled as he found one thing of interest that would be VERY

helpful in the future. It seemed that the locket reacted violently to

being near another locket (actually, it was the same locket but looped

back in time, so technically the locket reacted violently to being

near itself) which meant that the locket could be used as a sort of

Muhoshin-detector. Not only that, but once he was near enough, the

lockets would cancel each other out and they'd be stuck in the same

reality. That eliminated the possibility of ridiculous cross-reality

chases. He hoped.

Now, if he was far enough from Muhoshin, he just might be able

to get free of this reality...

"Who's the nut in the back?" asked one officer to another as

they drove the Law Offender Containment Vehicle (i.e. a reinforced

van) towards downtown. The driver eyed the narrow slit that looked

into the containment area, where an angry young man with a pigtail was

sitting and brooding, occasionally trying to get out of his handcuffs.

"Dunno, claims he's Ryo Saotome but he don't show on the

records."

"He doesn't? That's odd. Must be an illegal immigrant or

something, eh?"

"Hey, what was that flash?"

"What flash?"

"Thought there was a flash'a blue for a moment there."

Muhoshin continued springing from skyscraper to skyscraper,

making sure that he'd not been followed. While he saw the 'other Ryo'

get dragged away by the police, he doubted that he would be held for

long, especially if he was as formidable as Ranma Saotome. He stopped

along a fairly large ledge, across from a clock tower. From here he

liked the view. Maybe it was the great view of the clock tower, or

the unobstructed view of the lands around the city. It was,

inarguably, a nice view.

He hadn't a clue as to what was _in_ the building, but then he

wasn't of the peeping-tom sort. So long as they didn't bother him,

things were fine. As he relaxed and focused on nothing in particular,

he sensed movement below and peered. A car pulled, up, a somewhat

beaten up one. Looked familiar too.

[Oh, it's one of those police cars from earlier tonight.] He

pulled out his binoculars, peered down below, and grinned. A lone

figure was dropped off, a Ryouga. The police car didn't stick around,

so they certainly weren't after him. Or were they? He walked around

the building to make sure, and spotted no trap. The Ryouga cop turned

slowly to walk into the building, paused, and started chatting with

the doorman. Muhoshin took this moment to jump off the ledge, snap

open his umbrella, and drifted down below.

Soon, the Ryouga extender entered the building, oblivious to

the footsteps behind him.

Ed Ryouga Marlowe, Detective, Ministry of Sanitation, was

tired. It was just one of those days. They had the suspect right in

their sights, but somehow he got away again. The explosion site again

had zero traces of any sort of explosives, and the suspect displayed

ridiculous jumping ability.

Add to that the involvement of someone claiming to be a

Saotome. The only Saotomes on record were a Genma and Ranma Saotome,

and Ranma was the fiancee of the Head of the Ministry of Peace, Akane

Tendou. More links to the higher powers in this case, again. It

smelled like DNA experiments and government cover-ups to him, and that

meant they'd probably shut the door on the case.

He stood in front of his door for a moment, feeling very

tired, and muttered, "What a hellova day." He reached for his keys,

then lapsed into unconsciousness as a somewhat lanky figure suddenly

appeared behind him and slammed his head into the door.

Muhoshin grinned as he dragged Marlowe's unconscious form

inside the apartment. He was ready to leave this particularly strange

reality now, but not before leaving the endless others of Ryouga

something to remember. He whistled happily as he took some duct tape

and bound Ryouga's arms and legs together, then eyed the tower clock

up above. [This'll be nice] he mused.

Today was a Thursday. He met Ami on a Thursday. He planned

to mark the occasion, that wonderful anniversary, before he departed

from this wretched reality, with a bang.

Muhoshin gleefully smiled as this latest reincarnation of

Ryouga woke up groggily. It seemed the blow to the head was heavier

than he thought it'd be. He'd soon be dead again in a few minutes

anyway. Muhoshin wondered if the symbolism would be entirely lost on

the citizens of this city. Ryouga, strapped to the minute arm of this

rather large clock tower. It was almost a good replica of London's

Big Ben clock... except that the rest of the building aside from the

clock was decidedly modern.

Minutes away 'till fun began... minutes...

That was the problem. A few minutes. Muhoshin laughed

silently as he stared at the clock, glanced at the locket, then looked

over to Ryouga once more. [Might as well kill a little time.]

"Hello again," he said calmly, "Nice view, isn't it?"

Muhoshin watched with some amusement as Ryouga tried to struggle out

of his bonds. Originally, he'd wanted to crucify him on the clock

arms, but that lacked a certain... pizazz. This was, after all, his

last kill before leaving this world, and he wanted to leave with a

bang, so to speak.

"What the hell is this? Who are you?"

Muhoshin sighed. Why did Ryouga forget who he was with every

reincarnation? It was becoming somewhat insulting.

"Ryouga, Ryouga," he said, sounding genuinely tired, "if you

STILL have to ask," he added, tightening the bonds on Ryouga's feet,

"then you are dense beyond belief."

"I'm warning you, I'm a MoS officer! Crimes committed against

officers of the law will get you SERIOUS punishment! Do you hear me?!"

yelled Ryouga.

Muhoshin decided to play a little game of intimidation with

Ryouga. That was always fun. He walked over and locked eyes with

him, their faces inches away. "Policeman, plumber, delivery guy, ALL

your little disguises, Ryouga, they don't matter to me."

"My name is Ed Ryouga Marlowe, NOT just Ryouga, and you'd

better untie me NOW, Gosunkugi." At the mention of the name

'Gosunkugi', Muhoshin flinched.

"WHY you keep on adding on names to your own I've never

figured out, Ryouga," Ryo chidingly informed him, "and I most

certainly am not Gosunkugi." With that said, he punched Ryouga in the

nose. There was a muffled snapping sound and Ed grunted in pain.

"Offend me again and I'm do more than break your nose."

Muhoshin glanced upwards, where the hour hand of the clock was

up high. "You see that hour arm up there? You notice the time? It's

about... 12:17am right now." He paused, looking a bit meditative.

"You know, I've never talked to you much before... in all those times

I've killed you, that is," mumbled Muhoshin. "But now... you see...

I'm leaving. And I wanted to make a statement before I left. You see

up there? There's a bomb in that arm. I know, I know, I've never

done bombs before, not really my style... but I wanted to stretch my

wings a little. Artistic growth, you see."

Ryouga opened his mouth to say something, but a quick punch to

the jaw ended that attempt. "Don't interrupt, I'm ranting. Now,

where was I... oh. The bomb. When next the minute and hour arms

touch... there should be a big red spot on the clock face for all to

see." Muhoshin peered at Ryouga, as if thinking things over. "Oh...

I almost forgot, you could still call for help. Must fix that." He

stopped twirling his umbrella and brought the blade tip up next to

Ryouga's throat.

"Any last words before I momentarily disable your ability to

speak?"

"Yeah... why?"

"Why? Why what?"

"Why me? Why Ryougas? Why'd you do it?"

Muhoshin's face darkened. "Oh... oh oh oh... there's too many

reasons... you were first just a thorn in my side... then you became a

REAL PAIN... and then... and then you JUST HAD to kill her, didn't

you? But... butbutbut... I cut you I stab you I choke you I beat YOUR

BRAINS OUT and there should be only ONE of you... only one of you

HERE, anyway, but you STILL WON'T GO AWAY! WHY WON'T YOU STAY

DEAD?!" His face turned red with anger, and then after a deep breath,

the mask of calm and order returned to his features. "And there you

have it."

"What... what the hell are you?"

"Sorry, I've wasted enough time. Good-bye."

Muhoshin reared his arm back, intending to make a nice clear

impalement of Ryouga's throat where the vocal chords were. He'd

probably bleed to death after that sort of cut...

Instead, there was a gunshot.

Time slowed down. He saw the flash of light coming from the

muzzle of a gun, in the darkness of the upper ledge. He felt the

bullet slam into his left shoulder, splattering itself against the

kevlar with incredible force, pushing him to the edge. He felt his arm

go numb, dropping his umbrella. And then he was over the edge.

He was in free fall, spinning helplessly downward. His

shoulder had been badly bruised, if not dislocated - but the fact that

he was about to become one with the pavement below was of far, far

greater concern. He had only one hope left, the locket. Muhoshin

closed his eyes and concentrated.

Ami...

...no, safety, escape...

Ami...

...have to save...

Muhoshin became a blue streak of fire, a plunging comet, a

falling being of light...

And then he was gone.

The rays of the tropical sun shed their gentle warmth upon the

face of Akane Tendou, while a moist, warm breeze brushed against her

lips and cheeks, and a firm hand shook her shoulder.

In her dream, Akane blinked. She liked to be in control,

especially of her fantasies, and something wasn't quite right.

She ran a mental checklist.

Beach?

Check.

Palm trees?

Check - no Principal Kunou along with them, she was happy to

note. (That had been a quirk of the beta version of this reverie.)

Breeze?

A bit moist, and it smelled funny, but there. Check.

Hand.

Her shoulder was shaken again.

Hand.

Hand was not supposed to be there.

Hand was alien.

Hand was bad.

Wherefore was there Hand?

With a sigh, Akane concluded that the problem did not lie in

her dream, which only meant that Real Life must be intruding on her

fun, and she'd better check it out, just in case she was being mugged

in her sleep, or something.

She felt her shoulder being shaken again.

With an air of resignation, she bid adieu to the tropical

setting and opened her eyes.

"Eeeew! Ranma! Don't you ever brush your teeth in the morning?

Your breath is TE-" Akane blinked. Ranma's face was above her.

That, she was used to. But... She followed the line of his eyes.

Ranma blushed. Akane pulled her sleeping back up to her neck. "What

are you doing staring at my CHEST, you PER-"

Ranma caught the mallet before it could hit him or the ground.

"Quiet, will ya?" he whispered, and pointed to Akane's bed.

"You'll wake our ki-" Another blush. "You'll wake Miyabi up."

Akane's angry scowl melted into a smile. He actually... cared

about their future child's proper sleeping patterns? Maybe he wasn't

such a barbarian, after all...

"Oh, Ranma..." she sighed contentedly.

"Man, if she goes to school, I'm TOAST. You know how Hiro 'n

Dai react to every li'l thing - not to mention Gos an' Kunou. I'll

NEVER hear the end of it."

"Why, you self-interested, hypocritical..."

"Ssssshhhh!"

"Oh. Right."

Ranma stood up from his crouch and helped his fiancee out of

her sleeping bag. Once up, they tip-toed out of the room and shut the

door quietly behind them.

A day later, they would regret not having drawn the curtains,

as well.

Miyabi yawned and stretched her arms as the morning light woke

her from her slumber. She'd been having such a pleasant dream, about

a picnic in the park with Mum and Dad, back...

Home.

She opened her eyes, then promptly closed them again.

[Too bright.]

A few squints, blinks, a couple of yawns and her vision

finally adjusted to the new photon density.

She looked around.

It was her mother's room, of course, but not as she knew it.

The 'feel' was the same, it had the same touch, and some of the same

items, but...

It lacked something.

No, that wasn't right. It was complete; it just wasn't _her_

type of complete. There were a few pictures on the dresser, but none

of her. There were no wedding photos either, no portraits of all the

other happy couples - just a few group shots of rivals thrown together

by circumstance.

There was no room for _her_ here.

Miyabi grinned.

[Not yet, anyway.]

She just couldn't understand why all these people made such a

big deal about hiding what they felt about each other. Wasn't it more

fun to get along, to... to...

To be in love?

Words to an old song came unbidden to Miyabi's mind.

o/~ To be in love, is the greatest feeling that a girl can

feel o/~

That was every young girl's dream, wasn't it?

To find true love?

And here these silly people were just looking the other way

when _it_ found _them_.

She'd show them how to get it right.

Oh, she'd show them.

Miyabi stood up and stretched.

Considering what she'd been through, she felt remarkably

refreshed.

The girl giggled. She hadn't slept in her mother's bed since

she was a baby. Then it'd seemed so big, so comforting, and now,

fifteen years into the past, she could barely fit into it - or into

the pajamas she'd borrowed from Mum. They were too tight in front and

loose in back. But it still WAS comforting. She had no doubt that it

was the maternal aura that infused the room that had refreshed her.

Which reminded her, as he noticed the empty sleeping bag lying

on the floor - where WAS her mother?

"Oh, my! Ranma, aren't you going to finish your breakfast?"

"Nah, that's all right." Ranma flashed his patented 'I'm

actually doing this for an ulterior motive but want you to think

everything's fine and dandy' smile. "A martial artist has to watch

his calories, you know."

"Since are YOU worried about eating too much?" growled Akane.

Ranma jerked a finger at a nearby panda, who was busily

inhaling a bowl of rice.

"Since I saw what happened to HIM."

"Oh."

"'Sides, I've gotta get to school on time."

"Are you sure you're feeling well, Ranma?"

A rather large bead of sweat formed on the boy's forehead and

trickled down his cheek.

"Yeah! Everything's swell!" He grabbed his lunch, not

bothering to sniff it in the usual way. "C'mon, Akane! We're gonna

be-""

"Otoosan! Okaasan! Are you actually going to school without

me?" shouted Miyabi from the top of the stairs.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaawww, man!"

"Growf?"

"Sorry, Miyabi, but we don't 'ave time. Maybe some other-"

"Oh, but I'm already dressed!"

The girl grinned and stepped into the dining room. She was

wearing one of Akane's school uniforms, and it fit her perfectly.

Well, almost.

"L'il tight around the chest, ain't it?" observed Ranma. "An'

flabby in the back, an' the sleeves are-"

"How come you know so much about Mum's dresses, Dad?"

"Hey, it ain't like that!"

"Oh, but it IS," said Akane, in her let's-kill-a-diabetic

voice. "Ranma ENJOYS wearing my clothes, except he usually finds them

too BORING, don't you?"

"WHAT?!"

"Why don't you tell her about that time you dressed in a bunny

suit and went exposing yourself to all the guys in Nerima?"

"Bunny suit? Expose?" Miyabi felt her stomach churning. There

were some things she did NOT want to know. "So..." she interjected,

"When do we go to class?"

"How about now?" suggested Akane.

"Waitaminute! You can't let 'er come!"

"Why not, Ranma?"

"I mean, she's our _daughter_! What'll everyone SAY?"

*sniff* *sniff*

"Waaaaah! My own parents don't want me to get an education!"

"Wait a minute!"

"Who knows HOW long I'll stay here... If I don't go to school,

I might suffer irreparable damage to my learning!"

"Hey, look, I-"

"She's going," pronounced Akane. "Why are you so against it,

anyway? It's not like there hasn't been gossip about us _before_, and

I... I..." Her cheeks reddened. "I kind of _want_ Miyabi to meet all

our friends."

"Well, I-"

"Thanks, Mum!" The girl beamed. "See you in class!" With a

hop and a giggle, Miyabi grabbed her father's lunch from his hands and

bounded out the door.

Ranma shook his head.

"I've gotta bad feelin' about this..."

Flames snapped and hissed around him. He felt himself

tumbling downwards in this endless azure flame, then suddenly slammed

into earth. He would've screamed in pain, except that he was too

surprised.

Muhoshin blinked.

Apparently, it was the suburbs, at night. He'd landed in the

back yard of someone's house, and it seemed nobody noticed his

entrance. He winced, gingerly touching his shoulder. Bruised badly,

maybe dislocated slightly. Moving it didn't feel good at all.

He turned his attention to the house, attracted by the sounds

of violence like a moth to flame. Making his way slowly inside, he

found where all the noise was coming from.

Peering in from the entrance, he spied upon several suspicious

men beating and mauling someone on the floor. Next to the toaster

there were a pair of fingers.

He wondered what this was all about, and who was on the floor.

As the noisy and violent men shifted around, he finally saw the

victim's face.

What he saw made his blood run cold.

She was being torn apart, the men just kept laughing...

...the world was red and whirling, a rioting dance of pain,

and the laughter went on...

...She felt something break inside, and the pain moved in a

different direction and the laughing speared through her and she

couldn't reach the pan for some reason...

...Howling laughter, as the blows and boots and fists rained

down into her haze of self, she heard someone scream in agony and

realized it was her, and the silly pan was just out of reach, how

would she make dinner without it? And they were so hungry, and she had

the work still to do so that nothing bad would happen...

The laughter changed, going from cruel to gentle. "Kasumi?

Kasumi dear?"

Mommy wanted her. She ran over, and Mommy tucked her into bed.

"You sleep now, Kasumi. You've had a long day."

...The blows rained down, somewhere, and someone's ribs broke

and speared deep, sending a wrench of...

They were beating her to death. Damn them. HOW DARE THEY?

Ryo advanced silently, thinking things through. One arm

useless, and he didn't have his umbrella either. This would have to

be quick and lethal. He smiled grimly as he spied what was available

on the countertop.

There was a knife. A rather big one.

He had one good arm.

This was going to be messy.

But... then again... mess could be artistic too.

Slide behind the first one, unsuspecting... *slice* the

throat.

One down, two to go.

The other two noticed. One reached into his jacket.

Must be a gun. Can't let that get out. *Slash* and there

goes his wrist. One more... *slash* gracefully raking across both

eyes just to make sure. Two down.

He winced as the other one landed a solid punch to his injured

shoulder. If it wasn't dislocated yet, it was _now_.

No time to waste on anger. Had to finish this fast.

With an audible grunt, he tossed the knife at the last one's

throat. It impacted quietly, imbedding itself in his throat with a

slight squishy noise.

Time to check on Kasumi. He strode towards her quickly,

massaging his injured shoulder, when someone grabbed his shoe.

Ah, the gunman. Still alive.

Muhoshin sighed, went back to the other dead fellow, -yanked-

the knife from his throat, then planted it in the gunman's chest.

That should take care of that. He wouldn't be needing the knife any

more, after all.

He finally turned to her, lying on the floor. Savage cuts

across her body and face, blood coming out from her nose and mouth, an

eye swelled shut, and her fingers...

Apparently, it was her fingers that were on the kitchen

counter.

Muhoshin removed his bloodied suit jacket and wrapped it

around her. "Hold on, Miss Kasumi... don't die, please, don't die

again..." He kissed her gently on the cheek, then focused, as the

locket awakened once more to its master's will.

Kasumi was tired, and snuggled down beneath the cool sheets.

"But the work, it's not done..."

Mommy smiled, and kissed her cheek. "Tomorrow we'll do it

together, you and I." Kasumi gave a sigh of contentment, and held

Mommy's hand.

...Pain, somewhere somewhere distant...

The clock hit 9:30, and Kasumi fell asleep.

The doctor sighed and leaned against the desk, taking a small

moment to catch his breath and organize his jangled nerves. Being

part of the emergency room staff was never easy, but it was his

career. Trying to catch your breath and get your bearings in the

middle of the emergency room wasn't easy either, but he didn't have

time to step outside.

"Hectic day, isn't it?" asked one of the nurses.

"Yes, it has been," answered the doctor. "I don't think I can

take another surpr-"

*FWOOSH*

The entire emergency room screeched to a halt as everyone

stared at the two sudden newcomers.

"Excuse me," said one, a lanky boy holding a very battered

girl in his arms. "Is there a doctor in the house?"

The talk of the Mendou Plaza Hospital in Osaka was of the two

mysterious visitors that had arrived in the middle of the emergency

room in a flash of light. The hospital staff figured it was one of

those mysterious super-hero things, and that they'd get answers soon

enough.

Until then, they decided to just treat the girl and leave the boy

alone. After all, he seemed like the jittery, disturbed hero-type

anyway. It was probably a better idea to ask the girl what was going

on.

Probably.

She was.

She could feel her heart beating, and there was a horrible pain in

her side.

After a while, her name came to her. Kasumi Tendou.

And after that, the rest fell on her like an avalanche.

Somehow, she had survived. Which meant the bomb hadn't gone off,

because there was no way anyone could have survived the blast. The

monsters were alive and well and laughing, and would kill her family

and there was nothing she could do to stop it and they had cut off her

fingers and they were killing her Akane and Nabiki and Daddy and she

rotted here like poor Ukyou as they killed them to corpses again and

again and again...

In his seat by the bed, Ryo Muhoshin was jerked awake by the sound

of Kasumi screaming her lungs out.

Every Kasumi he had ever known had given off an aura of

tranquillity. The first one had. His Ami had, pouring coffee, laughing

at something funny, even as the life had faded from her eyes. Even

then, peace.

To see Kasumi scream like a damned soul was somehow the most

obscene thing possible, even in a universe of infinite Ryougas. It was

like spitting on God. It made him want to run.

But she needed him.

...and again and again and again...

"Please Miss Kasumi, you're safe, please stop, they won't hurt you

any more, please stop screaming..."

The voice was pleading, desperate. Was she screaming? It looked

like she was. What did it matter. They were dead, burned, broken, gone

forever. All her fault.

"Please, you're all right now..."

They had done things to her, done them with the things she had

thought were good. You cooked things on stoves and you sewed bright

yellow scarves with needles and you chopped vegetables for stew with

knives and they had beat her

and cut her

and burned her

and taken her hands

and pierced her

and killed them

and nothing mattered but them

deadAkaneRanmadeadDaddyNabikideadDEADEADEADE

"Please, they won't hurt anyone any more, please..."

The world stopped.

"Please," the voice sobbed.

With a supreme effort of will, Kasumi spoke. "The...men..."

"They're dead," the blessed voice replied.

They were dead. Her family was safe. She hadn't failed. It was

finally over.

Oh God, what had happened to her? What had they done to her?

Slowly, painfully, Kasumi began to cry, and something black and

dreadful fled. She cried, as relief and horror and pain coursed

through her.

Arms enfolded her, and she heard the voice weep as well, heard the

pain in it, too. Her good hand reached out and found his, and together

they drowned the rest of the world in their tears.

And as the world left, so did she, a wave of nothing rising to

swallow her.

Muhoshin gently eased Kasumi back into bed as she once again fell

asleep. He took a deep breath, stepped outside, then gripped his

shoulder and stomped around while muttering foul language.

He really had to have that shoulder looked at.

The people who walked by the room paused often and looked around at

the occasional sound of minor construction. Muhoshin didn't mind them

at all. While waiting for Kasumi to recover sufficiently, he'd taken

it upon himself to go out and scrounge up parts for a replacement

umbrella. A quick trip to a hardware store and a department store got

him all the equipment necessary.

It was while he was putting together his weapon of choice that he

meditated over the current situation.

It wouldn't do.

The situation, that is.

Time was the enemy and his current position did not bode well

strategically if his enemy in time, Ryo Saotome, somehow appeared. It

was miraculous enough that the locket brought them to a hospital that

had, thus far, asked no questions. But he needed Miss Kasumi on her

feet, up and mobile, or else _they_ might catch up with them.

As if that wasn't enough, his shoulder was still aching badly. The

doctors looked him over and did the best they could, but he was in no

condition to defeat anyone he considered an enemy.

And if that Saotome showed up...

No, no, no, couldn't allow that.

He took the magic artifact in his hand as he paced back and forth

at the foot of Kasumi's hospital bed. She was in no condition to go

anywhere, no, no, no, too many bruises, too many broken bones, DAMN

RYOUGA FOR THIS HE'S ALWAYS TO BLAME, she just wouldn't heal in time!

"Must leave," he muttered, "must leave soon get better fast hm?"

His words went unheard, as Kasumi slept on.

We're panicking again, thought Muhoshin. Mustn't panic. Nooo, not

going to panic. Think it through. Yes. What was called for was a

cure. A miracle. Surely there was something out there. After all,

there was the locket, a miracle in itself. Maybe there was some sort

of... hm... healing water, mayb-

*FWOOSH*

He was blinded by the azure light, afloat in the air, not knowing

WHAT he did to set off the locket THIS time, and it really made him

mad. He held the locket to his face and screamed at it, "YOU DAMNED

PIECE OF SHI-"

*SPLASH*

He thrashed around violently in the water, angry and furious at

the chaotic set of events and really unhappy that he'd been dumped in

the water in a good suit YET AGAIN. With much thrashing, splashing,

and occasional cursing, he made his way to the shore, where he spent a

few seconds on his back and breathing.

When he stood up, he finally saw his surroundings clearly. It was

a forest, an incredibly thick forest, the kind of forest that reeked

of mystery. Not because of the large tacky billboard that read

'Ryugenzawa Springs: The Natural Healing Waters'. Definitely not.

Partially because of the dense fog, partially because of the really

large spring he'd just finished getting out of, and partially because

of the ten foot tall garden variety lizard that was staring at him.

He blinked. That couldn't be right.

He looked again.

Yes, a ten foot garden variety lizard.

Damn.

*CHOMP*

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!"

Muhoshin pounded on the creature savagely with his umbrella at a

frantic pace as it casually munched on his hand. After a few seconds,

he realized what he was doing wrong, switched to the blade end, and

blew its brains out with a bakusai-ten-satsu.

His hand was a bloody mess, with cuts everywhere and one or two

holes as well. Fortunately, no fingers were missing, but still, it

was an ugly sight. He knelt down to the spring and put his hand in,

hoping that the cold waters would ease the pain.

"Stupid locket! Stupid locket! My HAND chewed off! STUPID

STUPID F*#% % PIECE OF S#!* LOCKET! Erh?"

His angry ranting disappeared as he noticed his hand had somehow

been healed. No cuts, no holes, it was... well... a miracle.

Wait... if his hand was well...

He tested his shoulder, moving it around slightly.

Hah. Hahah. He was surprised he didn't notice it earlier. His

shoulder was _perfectly_ recovered.

"Oh ho." Muhoshin grinned. This... this would do perfectly.

Now all he needed was something to hold the water in. Hmm.

He snapped open his umbrella and plunged it into the waters,

letting it fill with liquid. A bit leaky, but for now it would have

to do. Right then, this should do wonders for Ami.

He held the locket, glaring at it. "No surprises, understand?"

The locket made no reply, staying silent and awaiting the will of its

master. "Back to the hospital, now."

*POOF*

It was a terribly disappointing day for some in the hospital. The

mysterious duo that had been staying there had vanished, leaving some

in an irritable mood and the accountants really grumpy (who, after

all, was going to pay the bill?).

Then Ultraman crash-landed in the parking lot and everyone felt

better again.

The island was small as islands go, and rather isolated. Not to

mention pretty. White sand beaches, a waterfall gurgling down a gentle

slope, a cozy little house; it was like something out of a second rate

"trouble-in-paradise" style cop show. Only without the annoying cast

and tacky shirts.

In fact, Ryo mused, the locket had behaved itself pretty well

during the last few jumps. He had gotten everything Miss Kasumi

needed, and hadn't come across a single Ryouga. "Take us somewhere

safe and peaceful," he had said, after soaking the hospital bed. This

place seemed to fit the bill nicely.

Not that he would really mind killing Ryouga again. But killing in

front of Kasumi wouldn't be right. Not right at all.

She was still sleeping peacefully, slumped in the hammock on the

porch where he had put her. Now and then she cried out, and sometimes

it was in fear and sometimes anger.

The water, whatever it was, had done wonders. Her bones had

knitted, the gashes healed, the abused organs brought back to health.

But it had taken a lot out of her in exchange.

And you couldn't heal some things, it seemed. A long scar ran down

from beneath her eye, surrounded by pink-white tissue where the skin

would never quite recover from the burns. Much of her chest and back,

he knew, was the same.

Her poor fingers...well, they looked as if they had been severed

years ago. But they were still missing, all three of them.

He saw, in his mind's eye, the gang of Ryougas beating her. He had

killed them, and he would wipe out the rest of the whole stinking

person if it took him...took him...well, a very long time.

A tiny corner of his mind tried to remind him that the men really

hadn't looked at all like Ryouga, but he ignored it.

He looked at her poor, maimed face. It didn't hold peace, but it

wasn't in agony either. Maybe she would be better later. She was

better now than the way she had been, after all...

Her eyelids fluttered for a few seconds, and then opened.

She woke to a surprising absence of pain. It no longer hurt to

breathe, and the drugged, nightmare quality of the painkillers was

gone as well.

A breeze blew across her face, and she smelled the salty tang of

the sea. A seagull was crying somewhere, the sound lonely yet somehow

pleasing.

It all reminded her of that island Kunou-san had managed to

shipwreck them on. She had secretly rather enjoyed that.

Maybe opening her eyes would be in order? Yes, she decided it would

be.

The visual aspect was pretty nice too, it seemed. She was in a

hammock on a porch, with waves lapping at a beach in the distance. And

a concerned-looking young man in tidy clothes, carrying an umbrella.

Wasn't he one of Akane's friends?

Akane. She had to save her family, what was she doing in this

lovely place when her family was...

Or had she saved them?

"Miss Kasumi?" said the nice young man. "How are you feeling?"

The voice. He was the one.

She forced herself to sit up, feeling a bit stiff but otherwise

sound. "The men, please, are they really dead?"

The young man nodded, his hand clenching around the handle of his

umbrella. "Those...things...will never hurt any of you ever again.

Never. Ever."

Relief and gratitude flooded over Kasumi like a wave. "So the bomb

did go off." But then how had she lived through it?

The young man just looked puzzled. "What bomb?"

A cold feeling crept down her spine. "The bomb in the kitchen, the

one that was going to go off at 9:30, I thought you said they were

dead!" Her voice rose, hysteria leaking in.

Face pale, the young man shifted nervously. "I don't know about a

bomb, but the men are dead. I took care of that myself. They can't

hurt you."

He had killed them? He looked like a nice boy, but he was so

thin...

Then she looked closely, and saw the way he fidgeted, and knew him

for a martial artist, and martial artists were good. Daddy was one,

and Akane, and Ranma, and Ukyou and Ryouga-kun, and funny, wonderful

Dr. Tofu, and she herself had been one too, long ago, before Mommy

went away. Sometimes they took Akane on trips, and acted funny, and

then Ranma would have a match with them. And then everyone would go

back to the dojo and Kasumi would make them lunch.

They never blew people to corpses, or took away fingers, or did

horrible things. You could trust martial artists. You could trust them

to hit people, for one thing.

And they could be awfully silly at times, and that's why they

needed Kasumi. To cook and clean and help and keep the men from

hurting them.

"Where are we?", she asked. This certainly didn't _look_ like

Tokyo.

"I'm not sure," he replied. "I told it to bring us to a safe place,

and it did." He gave her an anxious look, and she almost smiled. "I'm

Ryo Muhoshin. Or did you know that?"

She shook her head. "I'm Kasumi Tendou. Pleased to meet you." It

was always important to be polite.

But she also had to find out what was happening, and if her family

was truly safe. "What's 'it'? Where's Daddy and Akane and Nabiki?"

He pulled out a piece of jewelry, and Kasumi shrank back. She knew

what it was. She had seen it in the Nanban Mirror, in the tumbling

maelstrom that lay outside of time. It was an aspect of the mirror,

and there was something wrong.

"You're a time traveler." It was said flatly.

Ryo's eyes widened in surprise. "How did you know?"

"I used the Nanban Mirror," she said, her voice a monotone. "I went

back to save them, to stop the men, to change things. And I did,

didn't I? And I'll get home from Osaka and everything will be all

right..." She trailed off in horror.

The men were dead. Why wasn't she home from Osaka?

"...but I'm still here...," she whispered.

Ryo sat down beside her on the hammock. "The locket moves through

reality. Possible timelines. Universes."

She listened numbly. A Kasumi had gotten home from Osaka and made

dinner. But it wasn't her. It was happy happy Kasumi, who didn't see

that there were men who wanted to kill and bomb and shoot.

Kasumi had come home, but she wasn't the right Kasumi.

"Am I Kasumi?" she asked the ocean.

"The last time I met you, you were Ami," Ryo said helpfully.

She would have to get home. She would have to get home and

protect her family, because the old Kasumi couldn't see that there

were bombs and guns and needles that didn't make scarves. She'd start

on the way home, and she'd make it. And then everything would be like

it was. And she'd bake cookies.

On the way home.

"Kaeri," she said. "My name's Kaeri."

He looked at her. "Are you sure you aren't Ami, Miss Kasumi?"

"No," Kaeri said, kindly. "I'm not."

The rest of the day passed in silence.

Kaeri slept, dreams of cookies and washing mixing with nightmares

of explosions and knives. It wasn't a very pleasant sort of rest, but

her body demanded it.

Muhoshin stood guard, umbrella clenched tightly in one hand,

waiting for the Ryougas to jump out from the shadows behind the door.

Eventually, he concluded that the Ryougas where just as bushed as

he was, and went to sleep at the foot of the hammock. His dreams were

just as unpleasant as hers, though much more original.

...He was back in the hospital with Miss Kasumi, only for some

reason he was the one in the bed. And there was Ryouga, damn him, in

the bed across the way! He tried to leap up, to put the damn Hibiki

out of his misery, but for some reason he had to finish the crossword

first...

...Ryo Saotome strolled past, a smug grin on his face. "Clumsy!

Inept!" he sneered. "I'm better than you. I'm the best Ryo. Everyone

follows me. You're a joke, Gosling. A real..." Muhoshin swung,

intending to give his detractor a second mouth below the overly loud

first, but Ryouga blocked with his own umbrella, laughing as he did...

...Miss Ami shook her head sadly at him, and walked away, not

seeming to notice the unnatural angle her neck was bent at..

There were other bits, chock full of imagery and precognition, but

he didn't remember any of it when morning came.

Kaeri was up at dawn. Sleeping in was something that happened to

other people.

Muhoshin-san was curled up at the foot of the hammock, clutching

his umbrella and making muffled snuffling noises. She permitted

herself a smile; he really was rather adorable like that.

The floor of the house was covered with the dust of years, and

Kaeri searched for a broom. Sadly, the former resident had neglected

to stock basic cleaning equipment, and she was eventually forced to

lash palm fronds to a pole. Makeshift broom completed, she sunk into

the bliss of housework, humming to herself as she did.

Muhoshin woke up in a odd mood, dark circles around his eyes.

This was perfectly normal, as dark circles around the eyes are one of

the more noticeable traits of Gosunkugi look-alikes. He vaguely

recalled something about Ryo Saotome and crosswords, which struck him

as being both silly and disturbing.

The floor now more or less clean, Kaeri turned her attention

towards her rescuer. Leading him over to the table, she began to

rummage through the pantry while Ryo stared in sleepy fascination at

the patterns in the formica top.

The owner had been fond of Spam. Spam and rice.

Five minutes later, Ryo was presented with roast rack of spam on

rice, a cup of coffee, a yellowed newspaper, and a dead flower in a

chipped shaving mug.

Kaeri stared at nice Mr. Muhoshin as he ate. He reminded her of

Ranma, in that he was only half awake and grumpy in a inoffensive sort

of way.

Ryo, for his part, gulped the spam, drank the coffee, and

mechanically scanned the newspaper. Apparently some sort of alien

invasion was occurring, with the paper rather hysterically insisting

that something called the RDF was capable of handling the threat.

That had been some time ago, judging by the age of the paper. Not

that he cared. Reality seemed to be like Kleenex these days;

disposable, easily ripped, and often filled with all sorts of

unpleasant snot.

Finally, Kaeri decided to ask the big question. "Muhoshin-san,"

she began hesitantly, "do you know how to get me home?"

His face crinkled in concern. "Yes, but don't do that, Miss Ami..."

"Kaeri."

"...Miss Kaeri, it's not safe for you there."

Her heart skipped a few beats. Not safe? But what about Akane and

Nabiki? Were they in danger? "Why is it not safe?" she asked, worry

seeping into her voice.

Ryo's face contorted for a second. "Saotome," he muttered. "Him

and the others, from the other realities. Dangerous." He unconsciously

twirled his umbrella in a tight circle, muttering as he did.

Kaeri felt confused, and her worry grew. "Saotome? You mean

Ranma-kun?"

He shook his head emphatically. "Ryo Saotome. Ranma and Ukyou

Kuonji's son. He's an arrogant, self-righteous..."

Ranma and Ukyou's son. Not Ranma and Akane's. Ukyou's. But Ranma

loved Akane and he only liked Ukyou and he was going to marry Akane,

because that was the way things would be.

Unless something happened to Akane...

"Miss Kasumi? Are you okay?"

Unless someone hurt Akane, and killed her again, in which case

Ranma might marry Ukyou.

"Miss Kasumi?"

She forced herself to look at him. "I'm fine, Muhoshin-san. This

other Ryo...is he nice to Akane?"

Muhoshin shrugged. "He doesn't like it when Ranma and Akane are

together. It makes him very unhappy." He scowled. "And he hates me.

Hate hate hate."

Kaeri's eyes narrowed.

"Then there's the Ratiko boy, who says he's Ryouga and Ukyou's

great grandson..."

"But you said Ranma marries...!"

"Different realities. And he's an idiot." Ryo shook his head

slowly, an almost sad look on his face. "To think the architect of all

my misery could produce such an utter fool."

Kaeri giggled in spite of herself. "You sound like Ranma and Ryouga

always do."

"I'll kill Ryouga, and then he'll see, again, that..."

She giggled again. "Just like them."

Ryo tried to decide whether to be angry at that, but the good mood

was infectious. "If it weren't for his habit of blowing up in a

ki-explosion, he'd be nothing."

She paled. "Ki explosion? Explosion?"

"Big ones."

The good mood vanished as she contemplated a mental picture of a

huge Ki explosion blowing apart the dojo. She began to shake, and

hugged herself.

"Are you cold, Miss Kaeri?"

She shook her head. "No. Is there anyone else?"

"A delusional madman named Ishido, a lady of questionable morals

named Childra." He snorted in disgust. "'Gosling' indeed."

"Questionable morals?"

"Goes after anything male with a pulse."

Kaeri blushed. "Oh my."

"Disgraceful," Ryo muttered. "Oh, and there's some girl from the

near future. Harmless. Miko... Miki... Miya... something like that."

"That's everyone?"

"Yes. May I have some more coffee?"

"Certainly."

"Thank you, Miss Ami."

"Kaeri."

"Thank you, Miss Kaeri."

"You're very welcome, Muhoshin-san."

As she set the coffee pot back down, she mentally ran the list of

time jumpers through her head. A anti-Akane, anti-Ryo son of Ranma. A

Hibiki who occasionally detonated. A madman. A whore. And some girl.

Her family needed protection, that was certain. But how was she

supposed to give it to them? Any son of Ranma's would be a formidable

martial artist, and the same was probably true of the Hibiki bomb.

Ryo absentmindedly batted a fly out of the air with one fingertip.

"Muhoshin-san, are you a martial artist?"

He nodded an affirmative, his mouth full of coffee.

"Could you teach me?"

Coffee sprayed across the table. "M-Miss Kasumi," he stammered,

"It's not really something you can pick up in a few days, and it's not

really you, and your wounds..."

"I have a black belt in Tendou-Ryuu kempo."

"Hmm."

While there's no rule that states martial arts training should take

place on a white sand beach with surf gently lapping at the shore,

it's definitely one of the better places. It just _reeks_ of

atmosphere.

The fact that the budding student was wearing a frilly white apron

made a slight dent in it.

He had begun by attempting to pass on a bit of Muy Thai

kick-boxing

"Okay, Miss Kasumi. I take these two coconuts...toss them in the

air like so..."

*snapCRACK*snapCRACK*

"...And break the first one on the upswing with my toe, and the

second while bringing my heel down."

"Oh my!"

"Now, why don't you try it with just one...that's it, throw it up,

and then..."

*thunk*swoosh*BONK*

"Oh dear...are you all right, Muhoshin-san?"

"...urgle..."

Five coconuts, three broken windows, and two mild concussions

later, it became apparent that kick-boxing wasn't something Kaeri took

to easily.

He decided to make a stab at teaching her the umbrella. So to

speak.

And indeed, she seemed to pick up many parts of it with almost

uncanny speed. Her thrusting and swinging was excellent, requiring

only a good teacher to put the finishing polish on. But in other

areas...

"No, Miss Kaeri, you can't stab with it like that, it's the

umbrella handle. You have to stick people with the sharp end,

otherwise they just look offended and rip your head off."

"Oh dear...I'll try to remember, Muhoshin-san."

But she didn't, not very well, anyway. She kept trying to use the

umbrella like...hmm, like...like a staff.

Muhoshin squinted at her. If he didn't know better, he would say

she had some sort of bo training.

"You keep practicing, Miss Kasumi. I'll be right back."

He quickly jogged back up to the house, and entered the kitchen.

Sure enough, the palm-frond broom was propped neatly in a corner.

Snatching it up, he trotted back down to the beach.

"Here you go, Miss Kaeri. Try using this." It probably wouldn't

amount to much, but you never knew. Things sometimes just fell neatly

into place, round holes sucking in square pegs.

Kaeri took the broom with a certain amount of trepidation. After

all, you used this sort of thing to clean, not to hit people with.

But monsters used knives to cut and stoves to hurt and they had put

needles _there_ and twisted the good things like jagged pain...

*swishSWISHswishSWISHswish*

The broom spun. And wove. And danced.

*swishSWISHswishSWISHswish*

It didn't look like a broom. It looked like a fast-moving blur of

brown air. And it was rather hard for the eyes to track; one second it

was above her head, the next behind her back, the next in front of

her...

Ryo stared in amazement.

"Miss Kasumi...have you ever used a bo before?"

"No," she answered. "But I use a mop and broom all the time."

"I see."

"The house has some rather hard to reach corners."

"Does it?"

"And I have to swat a spider on occasion."

"Really?"

"Oh yes."

Ryo considered this. "Must be really big spiders."

"No, just tiny ones. Except when they get into Akane's cooking,

then they swell up and grow spikes and fangs. And glow a little."

He idly twirled his umbrella, trying to focus. Umbrella and stick

work had many common points, and Ryo had taken the basic UWSMA Long

Blunt Things course. But most of his techniques centered around the

fact that he had a razor-sharp piece of metal at the tip of his

weapon, a curved hook at the other, and, of course, the rapier point

for the Bakusai-Ten-Satsu. He wished he had a pole kind of that...

Cerulean fire flared.

San Wei was in an interesting position.

On the down side, he was in the middle of the mightiest fortress in

Ni, surrounded by legions of the Imperial Guard, and presently number

one on the Emperor's list of People-I'd-Like-

To-Kill-In-Interesting-Ways.

On the up side, he had the tip of his staff pressed to the throat

of the Imperial Princess Akane, favored daughter of the Way of Heaven.

And his finger on the button that would send several inches of

razor-sharp steel through her throat.

"Back off," he suggested to the guards.

The guards considered this, and did.

Slowly, keeping his eyes moving about the room, San Wei led the

Princess towards the door to the great hall. His plan was actually

pretty simple; get out, demand and get a ransom, rape and kill the

Princess (just on general principles), and flee this pesthole of a

nation a wealthy man.

The snipers in the hidden alcoves in the roof watched his progress.

Some considered putting a few arrows in him, but decided that he would

probably be able to press the button before keeling over. The Way of

Heaven would then congratulate them on their fine shooting, and order

a tub of boiling oil as their reward.

Just then, the rather unpleasant-looking runes etched along the

side of the staff began to glow with a crimson light.

San Wei frowned. Normally it only did that when the blade was

immersed in human blood.

There was a flash of blue light, and the *hisspop* of air rushing

in to fill a roughly staff-shaped hole.

San Wei's position suddenly got a lot more interesting. But not for

very long.

Muhoshin looked around, wondering where the locket had brought

him this time. It took a few seconds to realize that he hadn't gone

anywhere.

On the beach in front of him, however, lay a staff of dark-brown

wood.

"What was that?" asked Kaeri.

He picked up the staff, noting the squiggly markings running the

length of it. And the two buttons in the middle of it.

Let's see what pressing the first one does, he thought...

*SWHINK*

One end of the staff sprouted fifteen inches of wickedly sharp,

silver-gray steel.

Another push, and it retracted.

And the other button...

A long metal needle emerged from the other end.

Ryo grinned. Oooh. Nice.

"Miss Kasumi? Why don't you try using this for a while..."

Kaeri eyed the staff with distrust.

She had used it to practice for over a week now, thrusting and

spinning and swinging it at empty air and crude practice dummies of

palm fronds. It was perfectly balanced. The weight was just right for

her. So was the length. Using it was effortless.

But something about it _felt_ wrong. Nothing she could put her

finger on, but the weapon made her uneasy. Perhaps it was the carvings

along the side. Because if Evil had a separate alphabet, this was how

it would look.

Her nightmares had begun changing as well. The man-monsters still

came, but instead of letting them beat her, she fought. The blade

would sever heads, the needle pierce organs, the wood crack skulls.

And then the bodies would shift, and become Akane and Nabiki.

The last time the dream had happened she had felt a deep

satisfaction after seeing the corpses change, and had woken up

screaming, horrified at herself. And she thought..she wasn't sure, but

she thought...she had seen a fading crimson glow from where her staff

hung on the wall.

Kaeri shook her head. She was letting her imagination run away with

her.

And besides, she had been doing well. She always lost her sparring

sessions with Muhoshin-san, but she had almost had him the last time.

Even if he was pulling his punches with her, he was still very

good...not in Ranma's category, but then _no-one_ was in Ranma's

category.

Without the staff as a weapon, she would be beaten in a matter of

minutes by Akane. With it, she could conceivably hold her own against,

say, the Kuonji girl.

She needed to protect her family, and the staff would allow her to

do that. And, just in case she ran into someone who she couldn't take

using martial arts, a Ryouga or a Shampoo...

Well, something would come up. There was more than one way to skin

a cat. Martial arts was just the most direct and physical way.

Bombs, Kaeri had found, worked well. So did projectile weapons.

You didn't need years of training and discipline to use them,

either. Just cash and a dealer.

Muhoshin sat slumped in his armchair, a cup of cocoa rapidly

congealing next to him. He was Pondering.

Miss Kasumi was very insistent about going back to Nerima. Ryo

didn't like that much; the place was crawling with Hibikis and

Saotomes of the worst sorts. But she was adamant on the point, and he

knew he'd give in and take her.

The training had gone well. She had a knack for both the stick work

and that form of Kempo she used; he wondered what she'd have been like

if she hadn't stopped training.

That's _not_ a command, he mentally snarled at the locket, glaring

at it with narrowed eyes. For a moment, he thought he sensed a wave

of disappointment coming from it.

Ryo wanted to make her the best martial artist she could be, so the

Ryougas wouldn't find her easy prey. And, given her weapon, the

Bakusai-Ten-Satsu would be perfect. Problem was, he didn't feel like

throwing her at boulders, which was the normal training method.

Ami entered, put a fresh mug of cocoa and a spam sandwich on the

side table, and quietly left.

It was enjoyable, really, living like this. She took care of him

and he taught her. And when the dreams got too bad - which seemed to

happen frequently - the other was always there.

Sometimes he even felt content.

But she had to go, and he had to put an end to Ryouga and Ryo

Saotome. Because if he did, the dreams would stop.

There had been many of them, lately. Odd ones. He had commanded

something called a Super Dimensional Fortress, crewed by a group of

brain-dead, beautiful women (weird, huh?). He had dialed a wrong number

and wound up living with some sort of deity. He even had the normal

falling dream, only in his someone kept screaming "PARNNN!" as he

fell.

He didn't mind them very much. It was kind of interesting, in fact.

Except that Ryo Saotome and Ryouga always put in an appearance.

Ryouga, a giant wearing a metal eye-patch, commanding a fleet of

cucumber-shaped battlecruisers. Ryo Saotome, female with marks on her

forehead, hitting him over the head with a mechahammer. Ryouga,

carrying a red-glowing umbrella, tossing a boulder down after him.

It was bad enough that they polluted his waking hours. But to have

them invade his dreams...how dare they? How DARE THEY?

"Muhoshin-san, please don't charge your umbrella with ki inside the

house. You're scorching the carpet."

"Oh. Sorry, Miss Kasumi."

"Kaeri."

"Sorry, Miss Kaeri."

"That's okay, Muhoshin-san."

His train of thought, momentarily derailed, moved back onto the

subject of the Bakusai-Ten-Satsu. Actually _doing_ it wasn't hard at

all. The main trick was learning to _see_ the breaking points.

Preferably without killing yourself in the process.

It had to do with the fact that everything was connected to

everything else, and if you pushed something like SO, it would knock

something else out of line, and that would knock something else out of

line, and so on. Of course, no human had the jeweler's touch required

to do that physically. In essence, the jab was the conduit for a

stream of ki.

Muhoshin grinned. He had an idea.

Kaeri stood, staff held loosely in one hand, listening to

Muhoshin-san explain this new technique.

She had seen Ryouga-kun do something like it many times. In fact,

she was normally the one who cleaned up after it. No matter how you

used it, it was guaranteed to make a mess.

"Now," he said, "see this rock? I want you to put the needle of

your staff against it and try to push a little bit of ki down it."

Do what? "But I don't know how to do that! No-one ever taught me

any ki attacks..."

"Don't attack. Just try to push yourself along the staff into the

rock. Imagine...the rock is dirty somewhere, and you need to find out

exactly how the surface is so it can be cleaned.

"All right, Muhoshin-san," she hesitantly replied.

The needle snapped out and was placed against the rock. Kaeri

stared at it for a second, and then reached into herself.

Kasumi Tendou, through a curious accident of genetics and mindset,

was a natural ki masseuse.

She radiated calm. It was almost impossible to summon up fighting

spirit in her presence. It was like trying to sunbathe in a blizzard.

Of course, Ranma, Ryouga, and Akane managed it anyway; the first

two being insanely powerful walking ki sources and Akane having

developed a slight immunity over the years.

But when Kasumi turned her full attention on them, even they found

it hard to keep fighting.

That was Kasumi Tendou. Kaeri Tendou didn't radiate anything.

But the thing that had done the radiating was still there, and it

was that which got forced down the staff.

Muhoshin watched hopefully. Something was happening; the carvings

on the staff were glowing with ki.

Funny, that. Normally the glow was blue, not this rather unpleasant

shade of red.

Her ki flowed down the staff, into the rock...

...There was someone else in here with her, but never mind that for

now, oh my, the rock...

...Who would have thought a rock could be so complex? It was like

a building, a spiderweb, a concerto...

...And it was covered with weak spots. She didn't understand how

she could have missed them before...

...Carefully, she pulled herself back up the staff, feeling the

other person vanish...

She opened her eyes, and looked at the world.

There were breaking points in the rock. There were points in the

house, in the staff, in the trunks of the trees.

In Muhoshin-san's bones. In her bones.

She twirled her staff, and in one swift motion thrust it at the

rock.

Ryo watched as the staff flared with red ki energy. The point

struck...

Oh yeah. Maybe it would be a good idea to duck.

The rock burst apart in a flash of crimson light, sending fragments

flying everywhere. Kaeri stood, staring at the small crater in front

of her. Her apron was covered with dust, and she seemed to have

acquired several small cuts.

"Was that the right way, Muhoshin-san?"

"Um. Normally it's a good idea to learn how to control the

direction of the shrapnel before blowing up large rocks."

"Oh dear. I think there's some bactine and Band-Aids in the house."

Learning how to control the way in which huge boulders detonate is

a rather tricky thing. On the one hand, practice is vital. On the

other hand, the practice itself can be rather hazardous.

Kaeri had the good fortune to be using a rather long pole to

perform the Bakusai-Ten-Satsu, and was thus able to put a makeshift

shield (composed of a card table and several bits of palm frond and

bark) between her and the rocks. As a result, she got through her

training period with no more than a few shallow gashes.

Ryo insisted on supervising her. He neglected to build an

improvised shield, being used to showers of small bits of rock.

While he hadn't lost _too_ much blood, Kaeri reflected, that really

was a nasty lump on his head. It was hard to get used to fragments the

size of an eggplant.

At the end of another week, she was able to send a devastating

shower of rock fragments in any direction she desired, with minimal

injury to herself. It was a potent form of attack, and had the

additional advantage of surprise. After all, the most common form is

done using the finger, not a weapon.

She just wished it didn't make such a horrible mess.

And that was it, really. She had dusted off her old training, added

a weapon, and picked up a technique that even Ranma didn't know. It

was time to go. Her family was waiting.

Poor Muhoshin-san. She sometimes got the feeling that something was

bothering him. He ranted about Ryouga-kun all the time, but that was

normal enough. Ryouga did the same about Ranma, Ranma did it about

Akane, Akane about Ranma...loudly and melodramatically vowing to kill

that fiend insert-name-here was a sign of affection.

But Muhoshin-san _brooded_, which was a new thing for Kaeri. None

of the Tendous brooded. Akane hit things, Daddy cried, and Nabiki

brought international markets to the brink of ruin. It was a good

thing to have people let out their feelings... well, unless you were

the person Akane hit or the company Nabiki gutted.

Ryo didn't just hold things in. He compacted them, squeezed them

tighter and tighter and tighter...

But he was a nice young man, which is why she worried about him on

occasion. And a large part of her wished she could stay and look after

him. And have him look after her.

Kaeri shook her head, flustered. That wasn't who she was. She was

the caretaker of the Tendou family, the only one who SAW the horrible

things bearing down. She was the adult among children. And she didn't

need anyone at all, because they needed her. If she showed weakness,

it would drag them all down.

But it was hard to remember that in the early part of the morning,

rising shrieking out of a nightmare.

Who would tell Muhosh...Ryo that it was only a bad dream? Who

would tell her that?

Her jaw tightened. She didn't matter. It was nothing that they had

cut her and disfigured her and taken her fingers. There was only the

Work, and the Work was her Family, and she would Finish It. And maybe

then she could rest.

It was time to go.

It had to happen sooner or later, he reflected. Miss Kasumi was

nothing if not determined.

"So you'll take me, Muhoshin-san?"

Ryo shifted uncomfortably, fiddling with his tie. "Yes...yes, of

course. Yes. But...you have to promise me to be very careful, you see?

Of the Ryougas. And the other Ryo, the domineering one. Watch them,

don't let them sneak up behind you. Yes?"

The *snapSHWINGswish* of the staff's blade extending and retracting

was Kaeri's response.

He laughed, the sound slightly thin. "And don't tell them about me.

Hate, yes, Ryo hates me. Of course, that's fine, I don't love him like

a dear lost brother either, no, no love there. Brother. Heh heh, ha.

No, say your Mirror brought you there. Yes?"

She looked confused. "Lie?"

Ugly word, that. He leaned forward, eyes glinting. "No, just

reordering events. Reality is flexible, modeling clay for words." An

odd, almost giddy feeling was welling up in him. Hard to say if it

was enjoyable or not. "Sequence and order, time and stress - they are

most important in this matter. Saotome wishes to Brand me a traitor,

and my allies with me, yes, turn them all against me. Rewrite reality

in your words, for both our sakes."

She nodded, a determined spark in her eyes. Poor, poor Miss Ami. He

hoped the Ryougas stayed away from her. But if he killed them

all...and their little dog Ryo, too!...she'd be safe, and that was

important. He didn't know how many times you could die before you

stayed dead.

"I'm ready, Muhoshin-san."

He'd kill them just as fast as he could.

Ryo grinned. [Thus, with imagin'd wing our swift scene flies, in

motion of no less celerity than that of thought! Miss Ami is set on

her course, and the stage is now transported, gentles, to Nerima!]

Blue light took them.

End Act 5

Annotations for Act 5

" There was something familiar about those tears, something more painful than the fires that delivered him to this world. "Bell-chan?" he whispered. " Not quite the Bell-chan he's thinking of. This is Belladonna Ono, of Ranma 2096 continuity. - "The nighttime sky in Tokyo was fairly nondescript..." Ryo Muhoshin has returned to the continuity of Stefan "Twoflower" Gagne's "Ministry of Confusion". - " An explosion rocked the temple. Keiichi looked up from his textbook. "Urd?" he asked. " "Ah My Goddess!" by Kosuke Fujishima. - "I thought you looked like Ranma!" Urd declared, slapping the table with her free hand. "So, did you inherit his... magnetic charm?" In addition to this being an "Ah My Goddess!" section, Ross McKenzie, on a whim, also decided to tie it into "The (sur)Real World" by Rod M. - " "You," he growled. "INCONCEIVABLE!" " A tip of the hat by Rod M. to the story "The Princess Bride", in which a villain in the cast often says "INCONCEIVABLE!" - " Ed Ryouga Marlowe..." Tip of the hat to Philip Marlowe, a detective made famous as portrayed by Humphrey Bogart in several movies. - " Flames snapped and hissed around him. He felt himself tumbling downwards in this endless azure flame, then suddenly slammed into earth. He would've screamed in pain, except that he was too surprised. " This scene is the start of the crossover with Mike Loader's "Smoke and Mirrors". - "Kaeri," she said. "My name's Kaeri." Kaeri ni = on the way home. - " Apparently some sort of alien invasion was occurring, with the paper rather hysterically insisting that something called the RDF was capable of handling the threat. " RDF = Robotech Defense Force. Yes, we went there. - " San Wei was in an interesting position. " San Wei &amp; his reality are entirely creations of Mike Loader, made explicitly for this story.

Ranma 1/2 Characters by Rumiko Takahashi.

Story "Ministry of Confusion" created by Stefan Gagne.

In in infinite universe, there's an alarming amount of possibilities.

It was a rainy Thursday night in the city. The grey skies seemed to

be a reflection of the people down below as they moved emotinlessly

through the alleys and streets that made up the great big rat race called

Tokyo. It was raining hard enough to make seeing difficult, and there

were quite a few wrecks already in main street.

In some darkened alley, a Ryouga was dragging some trash, grumbling

about the injustices of life in general and ticked off at a certain

customer that really ticked'em off. Ranma Saotome was the kid's name.

Just looking at his face got Ryouga irritated for some reason. Ryouga

sighed, took in a few deep breaths, and decided to forget the matter. He

knew he had quite a temper, and he really did try to control it.

"You there," a voice said, from somewhere nearby.

Ryouga turned around, looking for the source of that voice. It had an

echo to it. Whoever it was must've been on the fire escapes.

"Hello Ryouga," the voice said in a cold, flat tone.

Ryouga's temper flared. He didn't like being messed with like this.

No Ryouga ever did. "SHOW YOURSELF!" he yelled, "COWARD!"

"Coward? No." There was a sound of movement in the darkness. Ryouga

looked up to see, but the rain poured into his eyes.

Suddenly there was a dark form in front of him. He heard several

swishing noises and suddenly there was a burning sensation on his chest.

Ryouga looked down at the gashes that were there. The stranger's fist

suddenly glowed and Ryouga was struck in the jaw with incredible force.

He crashed to the floor, bleeding and dazed. His jaw was probbably

broken too, it definitely was in pain.

The stranger sighed. "Not much of a fight."

He looked up and wondered what he did to deserve this.

"W-why..." Ryouga said. "W-why me..."

There was a pause.

The figure bent down. He whispered into Ryouga's ear...

"If you have to ask, you'll never know."

And with a final stab, Ryouga was dead.

Converging Series Prelude: Deviations from the Norm.

The time: a future near you.

The place: Tokyo, Japan.

There was a time when revolution, disaster, and radical change had hit

Japan. There was a change in the very face of the nation. With

earthquakes, floods, and typhoons, the casualties were alarmingly high.

There was a labor shortage in Japan. And so, to solve this problem, the

ministries selected various persons and themselves for cloning. Basically,

there were some very familiar faces out there, mostly because there were

several thousand copies of those faces.

With such drastic times came drastic changes in the government of

Japan. The democracy was replaced eventually by a system of four

"Seperate but Equal" ministries. The Ministriy of Economics, which

controls the financial parts of govornment. This branch was governed by

Nabiki Tendo until recently, when a government scandal revealed illegal

operations which she had overseen. Then there was the Ministry of Data,

headed by Minister Mousse, which regulates information. The Ministry of

Peace, which handles military affairs, was until recently overseen by

Kodachi Kuno, until her demise. And then there's the Ministry of

Sanitation, operated by Kasumi Tendo. It cleans, maintains, and recently,

it upholds the law in Japan.

This is a story of one of their cases...

ERM Case file 6902.6991.04.01

It was another lazy red-tape Monday. He was at his desk, as usual,

filling out forms instead of doing his job. God only knows WHY they make

fill out all these nonsensical paperworks. The coffee wasn't helping

much either. There's just something not right about coffee beans grown

in Japan, he really believed. Has to be from Colombia or France, or it

just wasn't right.

Hiroshi walked by his desk, carrying a box of his own little paperwork

hell to fill out. "Hey, Ed, how's it going?"

"Not much. You?"

"Prowler suspect. Some guy's hopping across the skyscrapers at

night. Woo-hoo, how danerous," he said emotinlessly.

Then the phone on the desk rang.

"Ed Ryouga Marlowe, Homicide," he answered.

"Marlowe? S'me, Taro. We've got another one."

"Ryogua murder?"

"Ryouga murder."

"Damn. Alright, where's it at?"

"1135 Tai, in the alley."

"Any-"

"No witnesses, sorry."

He hung up the phone, angry. This case case always got him mad. It

had been happening for the past four weeks now, SOMEONE out there was

killing Ryougas. Sometimes it was just one, sometimes it was a damn

bloodbath of Ryougas. They had nothing in common, except for the hansome

face and that ever-so-classy middle name.

He sighed, got up, put on his Ministry of Sanitation uniform (Ministry

of Sanitation? Why on earth did they ever move us to their jurisdiction?

he often wondered) and headed out.

It was raining.

"Great," he muttered. I hate rain.

The crime scene was just like all the others, an isolated place where

no witnesses would be likely. Down on the floor was the unlucky man of

the day, carved up severely. If he didn't die of those cuts, he probbably

died of blood loss.

"Marlowe, what're you doing here?" This was Shinnosuke Sawada. Ed's

partner.

"It's a crime scene, Shin."

Shinnosuke still looked a bit clueless.

"I'M A COP!" yelled Marlowe.

"Oh! Oh yeah! Right, right. Sorry'bout that."

Ed sighed. Shinnosuke was a part of the price for the police moving

from the MoP to the MoS. He was one of the 'new breed' of cops: kinder,

gentler, and more suited to being a social worker than a law enforcer.

Marlowe looked around and found his partner, 'Pantyhose' Taro, who was

at the moment gloved and examining the crime scene.

"Hey, Pantyhose..."

"Call me that again and I'll break your nose," moodily replied Taro.

He'd acquired the nickname after a sting to bust a rampaging pervert

backfired and Taro ended up tied up in, bound by, and wearing pantyhose.

It was a hillarious sight to the officers who rescued him, until he got

free and let them know how much he appreciated their sympathy. From that

day was born his unfortunate nickname. It was also how he became infamous

for being a bit short-fused when people were joking about it. The only

one that ever got away with teasing him was his partner, Ed.

"C'mon, just joking!"

"I'll kick your butt later for that," grumbled Taro.

"Ah... right. Is there ANYTHING we can get outta this?"

"No fingerprints, no witnesses, nothing under his fingernails, no

signs of a struggle. We do have footprints."

"Better than nothing. Must've been a tough guy to have been

slaughtering up Ryougas like that. We're a pretty strong bunch."

"Actually, the shoe size is kinda average."

"What?"

"And by the depth of the impression of his footprints... I'd say he's

a little on the light side. No guarantees, but looks like a man's shoe.

We'll run a match down at the lab later."

"Alright then, a fast punk with a thing for razors."

"Possibly."

Marlowe sat at his desk, looking over the evidence gathered so far.

The case had them stumped. Either the perpetrator... or perpetrators were

damn lucky, or they were professionals. No witnesses, no clues.

What did they have so far?

The first Ryouga that was found... the first one that they think

the perp did, it was a sloppy job. Blood everywhere. Looks like he put

up a struggle. It was obvious that the murderer took time to cover his

tracks, wipe off prints, all the little things. Clean enough to leave no

clues, but definitely a sloppy kill with signs of panic. But after that,

the murders got more savage. Well, not so much savage as... well...

sadistic. Lately, he'd been really carving up his victims, cutting where

it'd definitely hurt. As if he was intending to inflict some serious pain

before they died. Not only that, but he's been damn clean about it.

Getting almost clinical now.

It was as if he was practicing.

This new one though... something was different. The perp always

slashed his victims to death. This one had a busted jaw. Significant?

To add to the weirdness, a few of those Ryougas had a funny burnt spot,

right in their brain. Once our forensic man reported it in, a squad from

the MoD came by and took all the corpses. What did the MoD have to do

with this case?

The police put out an alert about the Ryouga situation to all branches,

and Ed's group became a task force dedicated towards finding the serial

killer. Any situation that may have anything to do with the Ryouga

killings was referred to them.

One day a call was sent to their department. Apparently, a Ryouga in

an apartment complex had been late several weeks for the rent. The

apartment was a dark, cramped, with unreliable hallway lights and the only

bright sources of illumination being from the ends of the hallway. It

looked, quite literally, like the lights at the ends of the tunnel. Ed

stepped in front of the apartment door while Taro backed him up.

"Ready?" asked Taro.

"Of course." With a little hesitation, Ed unlocked the door and flung

it open. They immediately looked for a target to shoot as they carefully

made their way into the apartment.

The place was clean. No mess lying on the floor. There was a pleasant

smell coming from the kitchen. Apparently, someone had been here within

the last hour, smelled like yakitori.

They finished walking around the rooms, finding each one empty.

"Looks like nothing," muttered Taro.

"Yep. Seems like it." As they walked out the door, Ed muttered,

"Let's lock this place up and put it under sur... uh-oh."

"Uh-oh?" wondered Taro.

Ed nodded his head down the hall, where a dark sillouhetted person in a

raincoat was standing there, seeming to watch them both. They couldn't

see his face, hidden in shadows, but they could sense he was surprised to

see them.

"You think that's..." whispered Taro.

"Got a feeling," mumbled Ed. "Take a step towards him."

They stepped towards him.

He immediately bolted down the stairs.

"FREEZE! THIS IS THE POLICE!" they yelled, chasing after him.

As they came to the stairs, they heard a strange gutteral yell of some

sort, and suddenly there was a loud explosion. Dust and debris flew out

and they ducked for cover. Once the debris settled, they peered over to

where the staircase used to be.

"Damn," muttered Taro, "he's packing bombs!"

Ed pulled out his portable phone and dialed in to the station. "Get

the bomb squad and analasys boys down here. We've got the perp's abode."

Days later, much to the bafflement of everyone, the analasys showed

nothing. There was no traces of explosives or ammunition on the

staircase. There were fingerprints all over the apartment, but they

didn't match anything on the MoD records. However, they did find the

Ryouga that owned the apartment.

"Hey, think we found the missing Ryouga," said Taro, looking at the

shelf above the small fireplace.

"Oh? Where?"

Taro held up an urn and opened it. Bits of bone and ashes rattled

about. Either there was a heavy smoker in the house, or the resident

Ryouga had become incinerated.

It was after the fifth week that they finally got a significant lead as

to the identity of their suspect.

Four Ryougas, working on underground systems, all killed and buried in

some massive explosion, were the latest victims. The crime scene, as

usual, yielded nothing much, except for more footprints, but there was an

automated teller nearby, and THAT had a camera.

The police had taken the surveilence tape and bring it over to the labs

for examination. Ed and the others of the squad at the station watched

with serious intensity. They all wanted to nail this guy. Of course, a

fair amount of them were Ryougas, so the feeling was understandable.

The image was all fuzzy, and off to the corner, since the ATM wasn't

built for anything but near-distance visuals, but in the background was

the manhole where the four Ryougas went in.

1:35 A.M. unknown subject enters the manhole. Carrying some object,

maybe a crowbar, maybe a long sword. Can't say for sure.

Between 1 and 2 in the morning was the coroner's estimated time of death.

1:50 A.M. mysterious explosion occurs.

2:00 A.M. subject leaves manhole. And looks -right- into the camera.

"No way," muttered Ryouga.

"Whoa," said Taro.

"Haven't I seen this guy before?" asked Shinnosuke.

"It's Hikaru Gosunkugi! That guy that brought down Nabiki Tendo and

set off that big Ministry shakeup!" said Taro.

The other officers mumbled their agreements as to WHO was on the

screen, and their various paranoid theories on the matter.

"Alright, so our suspect is probbably one Hikaru Gosunkugi. Anybody

know the whereabouts of this guy?" yelled Ed.

"Dunno," said one officer, "heard he went into seclusion after the

media attention died down."

"So... where is he?" wondered Taro.

"Okay guys, get out there," barked Ed, suddenly taking the leadership

role, "get in contact with his former employers, his neighbors, get into

the MoDnet, I wanna know where he is!"

"Um... Ed..." said Taro.

"C'mon, people, LET'S GO!"

"MARLOWE!"

"What?!"

"The, ah, prints? remember those?"

"The fingerprints? What about'em?"

"They don't match, remember?"

Ed paused. "Ah... he could've altered the records at the MoD. He

used to work there, y'know."

"His motive?" wondered Taro.

"I DON'T KNOW! JUST GET HIM!"

"Okay, Ed. But I dunno..." Taro shrugged and went off to his desk

terminal.

"SHINNOSUKE, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" yelled Marlowe.

Shin blinked. He looked around. "I dunno, what am I doing?"

It took several officers to hold Ed back, while some others ushered

Shinnosuke out of the room. A Ryouga extender with a temper tantrum was a

thing to behold indeed. Afterwards, Marlowe took massive dosages of

headache medicine. Lately, when his temper flared and he was about ready

to hit someone, the nagging headaches would come back strong.

Price of the job, he always thought.

Somewhere within the offices of the Ministry of Data, a computer alert

beeped. Another program activated, sending a signal across Tokyo's

telecommunications lines. And finally, in an office somewhere, where a

computer screen flickered to life. A pair of eyes twinkled with glee.

"Well well well, they're looking for _him_?"

Data scrolled across her screen.

"For murder? Oh, this is rich."

There was a malicious grin.

"Ah, he's on vacation right now, 'tired of the constant questions and

the price of fame' he says. The little rat! Well... I know where you

are, DT, and so will the police. After an anonymous tip..."

Taro stared suspiciously at his screen. After four hours of searching

through the net and contacting former associates, he'd drawn a blank.

And then someone e-mailed him an anonymous tip.

GOSUNKUGI FIVE_SEASONS_

An incredibly bad pun on e-mail adresses, but a tip was a tip.

Warrants were drawn up and the squad headed to Okinawa, where they

unceremoniously dragged Gosunkugi out of his penthouse suite and had him

behind bars in a matter of hours.

"W-what's going on?!" yelled Gosunkugi from behind iron bars.

"Why'd you do it, Gos," asked Taro.

"We've got video placing you at the scene," Ed followed.

"No use denying it," said Taro.

"Might as well confess," Ed suggested.

"Who's this guy?" asked Shinnosuke. He was quickly thrown out of the

questioning room.

"I didn't do anything!"

"C'mon, Gosunkugi, we've got camera footage and everything," I added.

"Nabiki's behind this isn't she," accused Gosunkugi, "I'll get her for

this."

Ed punched at the cage, next to his face. He was ready to tear his

lungs out. There goes that headache again... dammit. Ed winced and

rubbed his temples, wondering if he had any tylenol lying around amongst

the lint in his jacket.

Something weird is up thought Ed as he thumbed through the report.

The sixth week, the sixth set of murders.

And they had Gosunkugi under surveilence the whole time. He was behind

bars while the murder occurred. Either Gosunkugi was innocent, or he had

a partner in crime out there somewhere.

With much embarrasment, he released Gosunkugi, who was threatening to

sue for wrongful imprisonment. With that lead gone, the search went on.

He sighed and took a sip of the freshly brewed coffee.

And frowned.

Something wasn't right. He had PERSONALLY ordered and paid for several

cans of COLUMBIAN coffee, the real stuff, with REAL creme and REAL sugar.

This... swill... whatever it was, was NOT the coffee that he had been

using lately.

"ALRIGHT, who's been screwing with the coffee brewer?!"

"Hey, wasn't me," said Taro. 'Pantyhose' had a bad temper about his

nickname. Ed was even worse when it came to someone messing with his

coffee.

"WHO THE H... WHO MADE =THIS= COFFEE?!" yelled Ed, holding up the

offending pot of coffee.

"S'cuse me, Ed, gotta refill the coffee machine," said Shinnosuke,

apparently oblivious to Ed's mad rant. Upon digesting this request, Ed

became deadly quiet, then opened his mouth.

"Did you say... _refill_?" asked Marlowe.

"Yeah, we were out this morning and I had to put in some more grinds."

Ed was beginning to look a little more capable of violence than usual,

seeing as how apparently Shinnosuke had as much talent with making coffee

as an Akane extender did with cooking. Before he could begin to start

violence on the unsuspecting and absent-minded officer in question,

Shinnosuke turned to Ed and said, "y'know, this weird coffee stuff tastes

awful. Where'd you get this stuff?" He lifted the can up high.

Ed looked at the odd looking canister. "I didn't buy anything in a can

like that." He looked around. "Hey! Who bought this coffee?!" After a

while of silence, Ed asked, "Shin... where'd you get this stuff anyways?"

"I got it at the... I got it at... y'know, I forgot."

Meanwhile, in Evidence Storage...

"Hey, where'd those Ryouga ashes go?"

Another week, another murder. The murderer had some variety in his

technique this time. One Ryouga beaten to death, one bled to death, and

one was killed by internal explosion. The forensic team was baffled.

Apparently, there was an explosion _inside the Ryouga's body_, and bits of

bone tore through his organs. However, there was no trace of explosives of

any type on the body. The fourth one was hit repeatedly with some sort of

energy. Again, the forensic team was at a loss as to exactly what it was.

Ed, Taro, and Shin lounged at the Hollywoood Diner, mulling over the

case. Ironically, everyone forgot why Shin was along for the ride.

"Well, obviously," said Ed, munching on a donut, "this guy hates

Ryougas."

"Obviously," agreed Taro.

"Certainly," added Shin. "Ah... who?" They managed to ignore him.

"He's a skinny young man, with black hair and large eyes."

"He's Hikaru Gosunkugi."

"Or looks like him."

"Um... did I order something yet?" wondered Shinnosuke.

"Oh COME ON! We've got his face on camera!"

"But Ed..."

"It was HIS face on the film, and you're saying it's not him?"

A Ryouga extender passed by and asked, "need anything else?"

"Refill on the coffee," said Ed Ryouga Marlowe.

"Okay, sir." The Ryouga waiter walked off.

"AHEM." Taro smirked.

"Ahem? Ahem what?" asked Marlowe.

"Think I've got an idea of what's going on. Call me crazy, but...

well... hear me out."

"Go on, I'm listening..."

"Gosunkugi extender."

Ed blinked. "It... would explain a few things... wouldn't it."

"C'mon, the Ministries have done illegal extender production before.

We had Gosunkugi under surveilence and STILL someone gets killed. I

think... I think..."

"Go on..."

"I think they've made another line of extenders. Supposed to have

been secret, like, I dunno, assasin extenders, or something. I mean,

who'd expect a wimp like Gosunkugi to be able to kill you? Anyways, they

made a bunch of assasin extenders, let'em loose with us citizens, and

were planning to use'em later, for, y'know, dark ops."

"Dark ops?"

"Undercover operations and such."

"Riiiight."

"Yeah, anyways, something must've gone haywire. The extender

freaked. And maybe now his designated target was a Ryouga."

"Taro."

"Yeah?"

"Start drinkin' decaf."

Ed turned away from his partner and took another deep sip of coffee.

Despite his words, Ed had a look of doubt in his face.

"Um, hey, did I order anything yet?" asked Shin.

Ed dropped Taro and Shin off at their apartments and headed back to his

own little cube-in-the-tower for some well-deserved rest. He parked the

car in the garage, stepped out, and got clubbed in the back of the head.

Hours later, he woke up, tied to a chair and with a damn lamp in his

face. He reacted as any Ryouga would...

"You're gonna PAY for this!" They were, if he ever got free. Ed

Ryouga Marlowe fueled by donuts and coffee was a nearly unstoppable force.

"Listen up, Marlowe, and listen up good," somebody said, "Lay off

Gosunkugi, alright?"

"Ah... right."

"Trust us, he isn't. He's got an airtight allibi, understand?"

Ed understood. No matter what, Gosunkugi wasn't to be touched. He was

beginning to think that maybe Gosunkugi was innocent anyways. Although at

the moment, after being kidnapped, bound, and put under a spotlight, his

opinion was swinging the other way again.

"Why the big fuss over him?"

"Let's just say that if something unfortunate happens to him, it'll

cause a rather unpleasant chain of events. Everybody loses. Got it?"

"And... even if he IS somehow connected to these killings?"

Someone sighed.

"He ISN'T the killer, you thickheaded moron."

"Well, there's this footage..." baited Ed. He just wanted to see how

they'd respond to that.

"You ever think that he might've been cloned?"

There was a fairly tense pause.

"The MoE, they used to have cloning tanks, you get my drift?" said the

voice.

"Are you saying the MoE is doing illegal ops?"

"Just maybe. Or... you know where Nabiki Tendo is nowadays, right?"

"The former head of MoE? Heard she was running some small time

company."

"She's running TENDOM now. Modest factory on Tanuki and 84th street.

High tech stuff she's working on, we all hear. High Tech. Y'know? Be

sure to check for hidden spots now. See ya."

"Hey! Wh-" was all Ed managed before he got hit by a spray and took

another quick nap.

Somewhere in town...

"Did you get it done?"

/Yes, Mr. Mousse. He oughta be looking her way about now./

"Good. Last thing we need is Gosunkugi raising hell. We all know what

happens if he ever gets in trouble..." Mousse frowned. Gosunkugi had

lots of information on lots of people, and Mousse was one of them. As

'insurance' he'd told all the current heads of Ministries that if he was

hassled in retaliation for his part in uncovering the scandal involving

Kodachi Kuno and Nabiki Tendo, he'd need, no, demand their assistance in

getting out of whatever trouble was sent his way.

Mousse really regretted hiring Gosunkugi.

/You want me to keep an eye on Marlowe?/

"No. That's alright."

/Alright then. G'night boss./

"See you tomorrow."

/And good luck with Shampoo, boss./

"Shut up."

Ed and Shin headed down to the TENDOM corporation building, a

relatively small tower in the sea of buildings that was downtown Tokyo.

Once they went beyond the steel doors, the high level of taste that the

former director of the MoE had was showing. There was quite alot of

mahogany and wood decor, and nowadays that sort of thing was expensive

nowadays.

A Nabiki extender greeted them. "Do you have an appointment?" she

asked, making sure they didn't feel welcome.

"Marlowe and Taro, MoE Homicide," said Marlowe, flashing his badge.

"I see." With frigid calm that could only be done by a Nabiki

extender, the secretary turned away from Marlowe, as if he was Just

Another Person, and had a brief talk with someone unseen through the

vidphone, then turned her attention back to them. "Through those doors,

please."

Marlowe and Taro made it a point to ignore the secretary as they

passed. They weren't in the mood for snooty secretaries, and had to blow

off steam somehow.

"Marlowe and Taro, MoE Homicide," said Marlowe. Taro just stayed quiet

and tried to look tough. It seemed to be the appropriate thing to do.

"Gentlemen, have a seat," said Nabiki, "what seems to be the problem?"

"Miss Tendo," began Marlowe, "do you recognize this man?" He pulled

out a photo.

"Who that is," said the unamused Tendo, "and what connection he has to

me are public knowledge, Mr. Taro. Please don't waste my time with

redundant questions."

"I'm Marlowe, he's Taro, and there's no need to be rude." Reminding

himself that he doesn't hit girls, Marlowe continued. "I'll be blunt,

Miss Tendo, do you have equipment to generate extenders here?"

Nabiki looked somewhat insulted. "Please, officer, it'd be foolish of

me to make the same mistake twice. I'm out of the extender business,

thank you."

"Oh? So... what's TENDOM about then?"

Looking a bit more relaxed, Nabiki said, "TENDOM is just this little

company, as you see, a project to get me financially back on my feet."

"And TENDOM is in the business of...?"

"We're developing replacements for extenders. No offense meant."

Nabiki smiled, pleased that the statement had mildly offended the present

company.

"Replacements for extenders? WHAT can you use to replace extenders?!"

"Why, robotics, of course." She leaned back, a look of

self-satisfaction on her face. "Imagine, no more extender rampages! No

more questions on morality of labor conditions! Lower production costs!"

"We're obsolete now, is that what you're saying?" asked Marlowe, his

Ryouga fangs becoming a little prominent.

"Not so much obsolete but morally questionable."

"You sayin' I've got bad morals?!"

"No, I'm saying that it's become morally questionable to continue

the production of human beings merely to fit in as a gear in the clockwork

of society. We've created a slave class, and that's becoming unacceptable

to society. You can't tell me that you've got all the same rights as

'naturally born' people, even if you are an officer."

"Maybe not now, but things are changing," grumbled Marlowe.

"Yes, things are changing! There's going to be no more POINT in making

extenders, now that they're going to eventually get the same rights as

humans. What's going to stop an extender from refusing to do the job that

he was bought just to do? Nothing, if the extender rights movement keeps

going the way it is. Robots, on the other hand, don't have any desires,

no dreams, no complaints, no demands, and if you're cruel to a robot then

who's going to complain? What's so immoral about kicking around a

robot?"

Marlowe was about to say something in an angry response, but a quick

kick on the shin by Taro reminded him of the matter at hand. "So... have

you had any success so far?"

"Oh, we're doing very well, in the mechanics phase. We've got a

humanoid frame that's capable of mildly complex movements. Probbably find

a niche in the construction industry."

"Are these robots strong?" asked Marlowe.

"Very strong." Tendo didn't like where these questions were headed.

"And their AI?"

"They do what they're told. Nothing more."

"Can they handle complex tasks?" he asked, giving a slightly accusing

look to Nabiki.

"That... depends. Is there anything else you want?"

Marlowe gave a slight grin. It didn't mean anything but he hoped it'd

make Tendo a little nervous. Looking at his watch, he said, "Well... I

think I must be going now, Miss Tendo. Thank you for your time."

As they were striding out of the building, Taro pulled out a small

portable phone and started talking. "We're out, guys. Find anything?"

/We scanned the place as best as we could./

"And?"

/No extender tanks around here./

"How about the ministries?"

/The places with the tanks are the only ones that have'em./

"Thanks. Well, Marlowe, looks like that one's a miss. What do you

think?"

"What do I think? Well... let's see... someone was trying to line up

Miss Tendo for a fall."

"Incredible lack of evidence, though, isn't it?" asked Taro.

"Yeah... but... think on this. Maybe we aren't looking for an

extender."

"Oh. You think it's a robot?"

"Maybe. If Miss Tendo's being modest about how advanced their robots

are, then yeah, could be a robot. OR... it could be someone with an

interest in extender sales that wants to put an end to her project."

"Oh yeah... there is that. Say, I've been meaning to ask, but, how's

it feel to be an extender?"

"You mean the feeling that you're not an individual, and are in fact

one in every twenty faces out there?"

"Yeah."

"We all deal with it. S'no big deal. We get a manual to read when

we're bored. Coping with clonehood. Wanna read it?"

"No thanks."

Meanwhile, somewhere else...

*RIIIING*RIIIIING*RIII-

"Hello?"

/They just searched TENDOM, thoroughly./

"And?"

/They're clean./

"WHAT? But... but it has to be them! Who else could it..."

/Just telling you what happened./

"Did they scan the place?"

/From top to bottom./

"There... there has to be another lab somewhere... that's it..."

/Want me to start looking around?/

"Yeah, thanks."

/Don't worry, Gos, you've got an airtight alibi./

"And I'm innocent too."

/If you say so./

Somewhere, on the rooftops, it was a quiet, dark, neon &amp; moonlight lit

night.

There was a shimmer.

A small spark of blue light.

Suddenly, the spark exploded into an oval shape, hovering in the air

for a secod... then dissapearing. In it's place, a young pig-tailed man

stood, gripping a flickering locket and wearing a grim expression.

Meanwhile...

The pawn shop owner sat in his small, crowded shop, watching the

rain drizzle by his storefront window. It was a slow day, like every

other day.

A few old computers sold here, some actual wood furniture sold

there... profitable, but slow.

The front door opened, slowly. A pale, gaunt individual walked in,

his eyes looking somewhat shifty.

"Hello! May I help you?"

The person glanced at him. "I'm... looking for jewelry... you might

say."

a few minutes later...

As Taro drove back to the station, Ed mulled over the case. Seemed to

be getting awfully political for a simple case of serial homicide. Ed

pushed those thoughts aside and decided to try out some of those zen

mental excercises to relieve some stress. He was finally getting into a

nice, quiet, zen-like state of mind when...

#All units, all units, head to 82nd and Main, the MHI building, repeat,

all units head to 82nd and Main, the MHI building, first floor pawn shop.

Two suspects, possibly armed and dangerous involved in street riot.

Repeat...#

"Oh well, let's see what's going on," said Taro.

So much for meditation thought Ed.

They arrived on the scene somewhat late. In front of a small pawn shop

on the first floor of the Meiji building there were already several squad

cars.

"What've we got?" he asked a passing officer.

"Looks like petty theft, assault, property damage, and murder," he

answered, pointing to a gaping hole in the side of the building. "There's

a dead Ryouga extender in the building and we've got one guy in custody

now. Says he's a Saotome, but he's got no identity on the MoD files."

"What's he look like? Skinny? Pale?" asked Ed.

"Nope. Kinda average, black hair, about five-seven, ponytail."

"Damn."

"But," added the officer, "the other guy was skinny."

"Other guy?"

"About five-six, black hair, short, skinny, pale.

"WHAT?!" Ed pulled out his cellular phone and started yelling...

From the rooftops nearby, a figure in the shadows grinned, spinning a

cane-like object in his hands briefly, then ran off into the night.

The prisoner transit vehicle rolled silently towards the station, a

solitary figure locked in the back. From a narrow slot, one of the

officers looked at their prisoner. The resemblance to the fiancee of

famous MoD head Akane Tendo was close, but it definitely wasn't Ranma

Saotome. While he put up quite a fight when the officers had tried to

apprehend him, at the moment he was looking extremely docile.

Satisfied that the prisoner would try nothing, the officer was about to

turn away when a sudden blinding flash of light struck. By the time his

vision cleared, the prisoner was gone.

Thirty minutes later...

"Great... just great," Ed muttered, sulking in the passenger seat of

Taro's car. "BOTH suspects got away clean."

"What d'ya think of the other guy we caught?" wondered Taro.

"The guy that dissapeared while in custody? Yeah, that was suspicious.

The guy matched the description and claimed to be a Saotome... although he

got the first name wrong, and the iris scan didn't match at all."

"Think someone's trying to set Akane Tendo's fiancee up for a fall?"

asked Taro.

"Could be... they tried to set up Nabiki Tendo already. Thing is...

WHO is behind all this? Is someone really out to scandalize the heads of

them Ministries? Are they working with the killer? Or was it just a case

of one bunch using another event to their own advantage?"

"Lotsa questions, Ed. Hey, we're at your place." The squad car pulled

over to a nondescript towering apartment complex and slowed to a stop.

"See ya tomorrow, Ed."

"Yeah, see you tomorrow, Pantyhose."

"Right, whatever, coffee-boy."

Taro drove off, leaving the Ryouga extender to stand out in the

sidewalk momentarily. Ed stopped for a moment to have a bit of idle

chit-chat with the doorman. A little about the weather, some talk of that

baseball pennant race, and a bit of politics. After a short while, he

said goodnight to the doorman and walked up the stairs (he was enough of a

health-minded person to make a point to use the stairs as often as

possible).

Finally, he reached his apartment, some floors up. Later, he would

criticize himself for allowing this to happen, especially with him being a

policeman and such. As he unlocked his door, Ed sensed something behind

him. He turned, but not quick enough as a severe blow to the back of the

head knocked him unconscious.

A lean figure, his features obscured in the shadows of the doorway,

grinned. "Hello again, Ryouga," he hissed. "Let's make some art."

Marlowe woke up groggily, feeling a throbbing pain in his wrists and

legs. His back seemed to be a bit stiff as well.

"Hello again," said a calm, cold voice. Ed opened his eyes and was met

with a sudden attack of acrophobia. "Nice view, isn't it?" asked his

captor, currently out of sight. Ed found himself tied to the minute arm

of the grand clock across from his apartment and many many floors up.

"What the hell is this? Who are you?" asked Marlowe.

There was a sigh.

"Ryouga, Ryouga," sighed the figure, sounding genuinely tired, "if you

STILL have to ask," he added, tightening the bonds on Marlowe's feet,

"then you are dense beyond belief."

"I'm warning you, I'm a MoS officer! Crimes committed against officers

of the law will get you SERIOUS punishment! Do you hear me?!" yelled Ed.

The figure finally came into view, putting his face right next to

Marlowe's in an angry scowl. "Policeman, plumber, delivery guy, ALL your

little disguises, Ryouga, they don't matter to me." In the glow of the

dim light, he could see clearly it -was- Hikaru Gosunkugi, or an

incredible imitation of him. There was something different in his manner,

however. The way his eyes bore down on him, the way he sneered, the

nature of his movements was, for lack of a better descrition,

somewhat snake-like. Also, he couldn't see exactly, but from the corner

of his eye, Ed could see that the stranger was twirling a cane of some

sort in one of his hands.

"My name is Ed Ryouga Marlowe, NOT just Ryouga, and you'd better untie

me NOW, Gosunkugi." At the mention of the name 'Gosunkugi', the

Gosunkugi-ish figure flinched.

"WHY you keep on adding on names to your own I've never figured out,

Ryouga," said the Gosunkugi lookalike, "and I most certainly am not

Gosunkugi." With that said, he punched Ed in the nose. There was a

muffled snapping sound and Ed grunted in pain. "Offend me again and I'll

do more than break your nose."

The Gosnkugi-like figure glanced upwards, where the hour hand of the

clock was up high. "You see that hour arm up there? You notice the time?

It's about... 12:17am right now." He paused, looking a bit meditative.

If this was a robot thought Marlowe, it had incredibly advanced AI.

It's either that, or an extender gone wild.

"You know, I've never talked to you much before... in all those times

I've killed you, that is," mumbled the Gosunkugi-ish person. "But now...

you see... I'm leaving. And I wanted to make a statement before I left.

You see up there? There's a bomb in that arm. I know, I know, I've never

done bombs before, not really my style... but I wanted to stretch my wings

a little."

Ed opened his mouth to say something, but a quick punch to the jaw

ended that attempt. "Don't interrupt, I'm ranting. Now, where was I...

oh. The bomb. When next the minute and hour arms touch... there should

be a big red spot on the clock face for all to see." The person peered at

Ed, as if thinking things over. "Oh... I almost forgot, you could still

call for help. Must fix that." Whatever was twirling in the

Gosunkugi-twin's hand came to a stop and was lifted. Marlowe felt cold

steel touching his neck.

"Any last words before I momentarily disable your ability to speak?"

If he managed to survive this experience, he'd want to know one

thing... and he asked. "Yeah... why?"

"Why? Why what?"

"Why me? Why Ryougas? Why'd you do it?"

The Gosunkugi-person's face darkened. "Oh... oh oh oh... there's too

many reasons... you were first just a thorn in my side... then you became

a REAL PAIN... and then... and then you JUST HAD to kill her, didn't you?

But... butbutbut... I cut you I stab you I choke you I beat YOUR BRAINS

OUT and there should be only ONE of you... only one of you HERE, anyways,

but you STILL WON'T GO AWAY! WHY WON'T YOU STAY DEAD?!" His face turned

red with anger, and then after a deep breath, the mask of calm and order

returned to his features. "And there you have it."

"What the hell are you?"

"Sorry, I've wasted enough time. Goodbye." The Gosunkugi-thing raised

it's arm back, and the cane-like object became somewhat clearer... it was

something black, with a curved handle... but the most obvious feature was

the two inch blade at the end. Everything else was unclear in the dim

light.

Not a good way to die thought Marlowe with much gloom. He shut his

eyes and braced for the impact of metal on flesh.

Instead, there was a gunshot.

He opened his eyes and turned his head as far as it could go. He

managed to see the Gosunkugi lookalike stagger back, clutching his

shoulder, then falling off the edge of the ledge.

"Hey, Marlowe, that you?" came a voice from above.

"Hiroshi?!"

"Heya, Marlowe! Small world isn't it?"

Det. Hiroshi, on the ledge above the clock, looked down. He'd been

waiting here on a hunch that the rooftop vandal would show up near here.

In the process, he'd fallen asleep for a short while. But after a while

the sounds of ranting woke him up. He peeked over just in time to see

someone about to stab a Ryouga extender. Remembering about the case from

talk in the office, Hiroshi realized what was going on and took a shot

just before what appeared to be an attempt at murder took place.

"Get down here an' untie me!" yelled Marlowe.

"Hold on, I'm watchin' the guy drop!" Maybe it was sadistic of him,

but Hiroshi couldn't help but watch as the body flew through the air

towads unyielding pavement below.

Down below, Ed's temper was ticking. "CUT THE CRAP AND GET ME OUTTA

HERE!"

Meanwhile, Hiroshi was keeping track of the descent. "60, 50, 40

floors...whoa! Somethin' weird Marlowe," said Hiroshi.

"Yeah? What?"

"Your guy's glowin' blue!"

"What?!"

Far below, as the Gosunkugi lookalike plunged downward, he began

glowing blue, then became a bright blue comet blazing towards the street.

And then...

"What the hell?!" yelled Hiroshi.

"WHAT? WHAT? UNTIE ME ALREADY SO I CAN SEE WHAT'S GOING ON!" roared

Marlowe.

"Your guy just dissapeared."

Down below, a street urchin heard something clatter. He picked up a

large, black stick-like object. Seemed to be relatively unscratched. The

pawn shops oughta give him a decent amount for this...

A couple of days later, Marlowe was back in the office typing out the

report for the case. His nose was bandaged up, getting him unwanted

glances. To add insult to injury, Taro inked a piggy nose onto the cast

while Ed was asleep. It wasn't a good start to the day. However, the

coffee was good, and Shinnosuke managed to remember to get more plastic

cups.

He took a sip of coffee and thought the case over. It started out as

just another serial murder... then got messy when the name Hikaru

Gosunkugi was dragged into it. After some anonymous tips, things were

getting damn political.

Whoever the killer was, it was confirmed that it was definitely not

Gosunkugi. While Ed was held captive, Gosunkugi was a guest at a very

public party. His alibi was airtight.

Who was the killer? From blood samples at the clock tower confirmed

that it wasn't likely to be a Gosunkugi extender... unless the DNA was

altered in his growth stage so that he wouldn't be exactly like Gosunkugi.

If they had the patience to alter blood and DNA, why not just make him

look like a non-celebrity... unless they wanted Gosunkugi blamed for the

murders.

Which lead to the revenge factor, and Nabiki Tendo. Her robotics,

perhaps? No... robots don't bleed. Although... cyborgs do. A little

plastic surgery, some robotic enhancements. But what would Nabiki Tendo

gain by slaughtering Ryouga extenders? Nothing, really. She'd benifit by

causing extender rampages, not killing them off.

The Gosunkugi lookalike mentioned a 'her' that was killed. Ed began

wondering who. The only dead woman of any importance he could think of

was Kodachi Kuno. Maybe this was a post-death arrangement she made just

in case she met a premature end? But then what did she have against

Ryougas?

And what about the way that Gosunkugi-thing dissapeared? Big blue

glow, then nothing. Teleport technology wasn't a reality, unless the

government was hiding something (and considering their past behaviour,

that was a possibility). Self destruct, perhaps? It could've been. The

wind was a bit strong that night, and if he'd burned himself to ashes,

they'd be scattered all over the city. Even the weapon he was carrying

wasn't found.

"Screw it, screw it screw it screw it." He closed the file on his word

processor and took another sip of coffee. Ah... a good brew today.

Marlowe had a feeling that this case was over and there'd be _no_ answers

from the Powers That Be. Might as well close it out.

He took another sip of coffee, then stared at it... and then started

glowing an intense red.

"SHINNOSUKEEEEEEEEE!"

Meanwhile, down at the lab...

"Hey, where'd those urine sample cups go?"

-end prelude-

What seest thou else

In the dark backward and abysm of time?

-W. Shakespeare

Time to live

Time to lie

Time to laugh

Time to die

Takes it easy, baby

Take it as it comes

Don't move too fast

And you want your love to last

Oh, you've been movin' much too fast

Time to walk

Time to run

Time to aim your arrows

At the sun

-The Doors

Converging Series Web Site: ~rpm/converging_series/

Ranma 2096 Web Site: .ca/~

Childra Jansen's subpage: .ca/~

Hibiki Zannen's subpage: .ca/~

ConSer Editor's Preface:

Well now, what to say...

Trisha's always been on my to-read list, and having her write up a story for

Converging Series was something that pleasantly surprised me (and had me

worried, remind me to tell you kids about the Converging Series Curse some

time).

As for the subjects she writes, wella...

Every 'epic' story usually has the hero, the villain, the crisis, and the

romance.

Ishido and Childra are that romance.

Readers of Converging Series often ask us what we plan to do with the pair,

since there is a distinct possibility that these lovebirds may be torn apart

by the ol' sea of time.

Well, this story answers that, I suppose.

It also meets the base needs of man in several ways.

1) It features a lesbian relationship. A lot of men, myself included, find

that sort of thing darn irresistible.

2) It's got the younger man/older woman angle going. You folks ever stop

and think about how old Childra really is? Or how young Ishido is? Slight

oedipal complex on his part? Mmmmmmmmaybe.

3) It's got the older woman/younger woman angle going. See (1) for any

further notes.

Ah. Right. Okay, by now I guess I've set you all up to think that this is

one big lemon orgy-fest.

Aheh, sorry, no. n.n;;;

But it's about people, folks. It's about the heart of the matter, when all

the fighting and adventuring and all that are done, and you're faced with a

future of question marks.

I just love those kinda stories, don't you?

-rod

R2096 Editor's Preface:

This story already has its opening and ending quotes, but I'll add my own

'Editor's Preface Quote':

"Never fall in love with a bisexual. It will only give you indigestion."

-From the movie 'Costa Brava'.

Words to live by, especially if the one falling in love is monosexual and

unaware of the other's inclinations. Childra Jansen has had it rather easy

so far, as romantic triangles go. She's popped into another dimension,

found a young (VERY young) lover, and had a few enjoyable moments, but

nothing lasts, and sometime, soon, she's going to have to make a choice.

In 1996 ConSer Nerima, she's found Ishido Takashima - young, sweet, straight

and occasionally psychotic. In R2096's 2096, she's left Zannen Hibiki - the

swashbuckling head of the Exploratory History department at U of Tokyo, and

a lesbian. Both her lovers are intensily monogamous and monosexual, and

unaware that Childra is neither.

How to make the choice? Or must there be a choice? Trisha deals wonderfully

with the inner workings of Miss Jansen's mind in the following short story.

Enjoy!

Childra &amp; Ishido: In Her Wildest Dreams

A Converging Series side story

by

Trisha L. Sebastian

[Childra Jansen, Zannen Hibiki and the Exploratory History department are

creations of Chris Willmore. Ishido/Lobishomem belongs to Kevin Eav. They

are being used with permission.]

[The Ranma Universe is being used without permission. Please don't sue me.

In addition, this side story goes between Act 5 and Act 6 of the Converging

Series.]

"Blimey. I'm shagging a lesbian."

"..."

"Do I get a prize?"

-Garth Ennis

Childra and Ishido turned away from the window that Happosai flew out of and

the blue blaze of light that burned into their retinas.

"Do you think he's gonna make it alright to ... wherever he's going?" Ishido

asked, his eyes scanning the scattered magical instruments and the women's

underwear around the room.

Childra shrugged, "It doesn't matter right now." She threw her arms around

Ishido and hugged him tightly. "What matters is that now that he's gone, we

can concentrate on us!" She gave him a seductive look and her lips closed

in on his-

"What in the world just happened here?" Childra and Ishido whirled around

guiltily.

Miyabi stood in the doorway, her hands on her hips. At the moment, she

looked so much like the Akane she remembered from the future that Childra

couldn't help but grin. She hugged Ishido tighter to her. "I was about to

give my Lobishomem a great big hug for saving my life!"

Ishido turned bright red and Miyabi couldn't help but beam at seeing at

least one couple who could get along together. Childra tugged on Ishido's

arm and drawing Miyabi aside with the other, she firmly closed the door on

the old lech's room. She gave a knowing wink to both of them. "We best not

stay too long; he might come back." Ishido frowned and Childra inwardly

shuddered, remembering Happosai's grimy hands all over her breasts.

"So," she asked, walking arm in arm with them down the stairs, "have we

missed dinner?"

Childra snuggled up comfortably against Ishido's shoulder as they walked

down the street back to Ucchan's. She had finished her dinner with a

satisfied sigh. No matter what kinds of technology the twenty-first century

had to offer, nothing, just nothing could beat Kasumi's cooking. She would

have to remember to tell that to Zannen when she got back-

Childra frowned. Go back? Did she have to go back? She was having a

wonderful time in the twentieth century, finally figuring out if her

theories about this era were correct. She loved talking to Akane, seeing

her instead of seeing right through her. She loved eating at Ucchan's,

loved wandering around Nerima, loved everything. She could do what ever she

wanted to do in this timeline and when it was all over, she could go back

home without any ill effects to the time stream.

Ryo Saotome had no clue about what he was talking about. Even though he was

the one who had brought them all together in this parallel time stream, he

had no clue about how the actual mechanics of time travel worked. She, on

the other hand, knew everything. She was taught by the best.

Childra thought back to the first time she came back from a trip through the

EH's 'time machine'. She was studying Darwin's voyages through the

Galapagos, hoping to finish her research on him for her thesis. She came

back flushed and excited. What a darling man he was.

Happily, she floated out of the changing room. Her notes were tucked away

in her bandolier, her *private* notes. Her new insights on Darwin would

change everything they knew about him. She was so lost in euphoria that she

didn't notice the woman blocking her path until it was too late.

"Oh, I'm sorry, ma'am..." Childra's voice trailed off when she noticed who

the woman was. "Director Hibiki, I didn't mean to run into you like that."

The woman nodded her head in a regal fashion. "No harm done. Tell me, Ms.

Jansen, did you enjoy your trip?"

Childra grinned. "I loved it! The clothes, the people, Darwin... Every

thing was so fabulous. I only wish that I could have had more time there.

There's so many things I left unfinished." Like her tryst with Darwin.

"The twenty-minute limit *is* a pain, isn't it?" There was a hint of a smile

on the director's lips. "Nonetheless, I've found time can be quite

flexible... in the right hands."

"Directress?"

The smile was now full-grown, lazy and feral. "Call me Zannen, and we can

discuss this some more tomorrow when you report to my office."

"Yes, Dir- Zannen."

Zannen. Funny, for all the time that she had spent in the past (or an

alternate version of the past) she had not thought of her lover once.

Childra used to be scared of her. The technicians and all the other EH

operatives called her "the ice queen" and other names that referred to her

antecedents and sexual preference. But after that meeting in her office and

dinner later on, she realized that the icy facade hid a tender woman, who

had to keep up the facade to get her way in the world.

Zannen wasn't an ice queen. She was the pirate queen without a ship. She

once wore a costume one Halloween, a red silk blouse knotted at the waist,

tight black shorts slashed at the knees and calf high black leather boots.

She was the hit of the EH party, with her gold hoop earings and a real 15th

century Spanish cutlass she had belted to her hip. She was all fire that

night, charming all the male executives, then laughing in their faces when

she had rebuffed their advances. Her Zannen. And later that evening, when

they had tumbled into bed, Zannen was all ice, raising goosebumps on her

flesh with her cool kisses driving her insane with her methodical slowness

until she couldn't take anymore. Zannen had undone her completely that

night. Much as Ishido had with his shy tenderness...

Ishido stopped and stared down at her. Childra was completely silent, her

eyes drawn and her mouth twisted into a sad smile. He blessed the heavens

every moment when he saw her. Ishido felt that if she asked him to run a

marathon, then fight a hundred warriors, all while balancing an egg

vertically on a spoon held between his teeth, he would cheerfully ask where

they kept the eggs. He didn't think that there should be anything in this

world that should hurt her. But she seemed so strong, so self-sufficient

that he didn't think that there was anything wrong. She told him that she

was

his; she told him that she would stay. So when he nudged her with his

shoulder and asked her what was wrong, he was expecting to see her smile

brightly at him, assure him everything was alright and banish the small well

of fear that started to spring up in his stomach.

Childra turned towards him with a smile and said, "Hey, Lobis, I've got a

good idea. Instead of going to Ucchan's tonight, why don't we go someplace

else? Somewhere secluded and romantic." She smiled again, grabbing onto

his arm tightly. "Let's try one of those love hotels that I used to read

about."

Ishido gulped. "Love hotels?" He blushed to his eyebrows and Childra

laughed. She pushed against his shoulder and gave him a quick kiss on the

cheek. She fluttered her eyelashes and smiled, "For me?"

Ishido swallowed back the lump in his throat. How could he ever refuse her?

He nodded and Childra smiled, pumping her arm and shouting, "Yatta!" She

dragged him off to a phone booth. "There's this one I read about when I was

back home. It's supposed to be near here..." Ishido smiled as Childra

yammered on and on about the hotel, not noticing the brief flare of pain in

her brown eyes.

Ishido was still blushing by the time they reached the hotel. He stared at

the menu of choices. Each room had a picture of what it looked like, with a

key box underneath. He recoiled in horror from the picture of a certain

room with pink frilly sheets, a heart-shaped bed and a disco ball. Childra's

eyes followed his gaze and she laughed. "Is that you're style, Lobis?"

He shook his head rapidly and she gushed, "But it's so cute! And I just

adore that disco ball!" He gave her a stern look and intoned, "We are not

going there."

Childra shrugged. Then her eyes fell on a room with dark paneling and a

Victorian bed. She tapped it thoughtfully with her forefinger. "Do you

like that one?" she asked him.

Ishido shrugged. Now that they were actually here, he was starting to feel

uneasy about the idea. "Whatever is fine with you is fine with me. I trust

you, Childra."

Childra beamed at him. She grabbed the keys out of the hole and tugged him

in the direction of the hotel. Laughing, she tugged him up the stairs,

briskly opened up the door and shoved him in. Locking it behind her, she

leaned back against it dramatically and said huskily, "Now, finally, we're

alone together." Slowly and deliberately, she pulled out the neck- line of

her shirt and dropped the key in.

Ishido gulped. "What are you doing?"

"Well," she said, stalking towards him with a predatory gleam in her eye, "I

get the distinct feeling that you don't want to be here. So, I'm gonna let

you go."

"And?" Ishido knew by now that with Childra there would always be some sort

of condition attached to any offer that she had to make. Especially if it

concerned him, her, and a private hotel room.

"Well," she said, drawing the word out and trailing a finger up his arm,

"you can leave *if* you can get the key."

"The key?" Ishido gulped again, looking down at her chest, then back up at

her face.

"Yep." There was a whole lot of meaning placed into that small little word.

Childra laughed as she saw Ishido reach for her arm, then pull away

hesitantly.

"What's the matter, Lobis? Afraid of a little cleavage?" she taunted him,

circling him like a shark does a bloody hunk of meat in the water.

"I'm not afraid," he said, watching her out of the corner of his eye.

"Oh, really?" she stated, hugging him from behind. He could feel her

breasts press up against him, and the metal of the key digging into his

back.

Ishido grinned. "Really." With a lightning quick motion, he reached over

his shoulder and bending slightly, he flipped her over his back and into his

arms. Surprised, Childra saw the wolfish grin on his face as he carried her

off to the bed. He tossed her onto it and pounced next to her.

Childra's eyes glittered with excitement as he kissed her, his passion

burning into her lips. He quickly made short work of her clothing and his

and dropping the key onto the nightstand, they made love under the Victorian

canopy.

Childra awoke with a start, and found herself alone in the large bed. Zannen

was nowhere to be found. Blinking back sleep, Childra swung her legs out of

the bed, nearly hitting her head on the canopy, and got up, searching for

her slippers. She pushed back the heavy drapes that concealed their

apartment windows and blinked out at the morning sun. All of Tokyo lay

spread out in front of her, the university a large white span of land to her

right. If she squinted, she could see the EH offices in the distance. Is

that where Zannen had gone?

She dressed quickly, gulping down a glass of orange juice from the

refrigerator and took the stairs down two at a time. People jostled about

her as

they went to work, to school. Getting her bearings, she pushed her way in

the opposite direction of the stream of commuters and towards the EH

offices.

The fact that Zannen did not wake up beside her bothered her a bit. Usually

Zannen was loathe to wake up when she could sleep in. Usually, while

Childra dressed and showered, Zannen would have prepared breakfast for the

two of them before they went about their business, Childra to classes,

Zannen to... whatever. But Zannen was not in their bed. Childra had woken

up alone.

In no time at all, Childra found herself in the lobby of the EH building.

The receptionist who usually greeted her with a smile was replaced by a dour

young man who bore a strange resemblance to Ryo Saotome. Ryo Saotome? Where

did that name come from?

She found her way to the Directress' office, and knocked hesitantly. No

answer. She yanked hard on the door latch and it wouldn't budge. Panic

rising in the back of her throat, she clawed and hammered at the door, until

it finally opened from the inside. A man looked down at her with familiar

green eyes. "Childra!" he exclaimed.

Childra stumbled back, and the man grabbed her by the arm and pulled her

inside. The man dragged her to a chair and pushed her into it. Then,

turning slowly in front of her, he asked, "Well, what do you think?"

"Huh? What do I think of what? Who are you?"

The man smiled a feral grin. "What, don't you recognize me? It's me,

Zannen."

Zannen? Childra could only stare as he strutted up to her and sat on the

edge of the desk. "You're the one who wanted me to do this, remember?" he

smiled, legs swinging back and forth.

"Do what?" Childra whispered in a small voice.

"Be a man, after all, that's what you really want, isn't it?" Suddenly his

(her?) voice turned cold. "I know about him, I know all about him, your

little play toy in the 20th century."

Childra's heart stopped, and Zannen continued, his wide smile reminding her

of shark's teeth. "So, I took the liberty of going back to wherever he was

and killing him. I stopped at Jusenkyo, too." He placed a hand on her,

squeezing her bicep painfully. "Now you can have your cake and 'eat' it

too." Laughing softly, he moved in to kiss her, pointed teeth dripping with

blood-

Childra awoke with a start. Ishido still slept beside her, his breathing

deep and regular. Impulsively, she latched on to him, hugging him deeply.

He stirred and slowly sat up.

"Oh, Ishido, I'm so glad to be here with you!" she murmured into his back,

pressing kisses against it. Ishido said nothing, but instead swung his legs

out of bed and gathering his clothing, he went to the bathroom and locked

the door.

Childra stared after him in amazement. What was wrong with him today? She

dressed in silence, her fingers fumbling with her blouse and bandolier.

Settling a dagger on her hip, she rapped on the bathroom door. "Come out,

Lobis? Don't you want to play with me?"

The door slammed back open and Ishido stalked out. "Ready." It was less of

a question than it was a declaration. Confused, Childra followed Ishido out

the hotel and back down towards the Tendo dojo. Childra tried to grab his

arm, but he shook her off and continued on. "What's wrong?" she asked, a

worried expression on her face.

"It's nothing you can fix..." Ishido's voice trailed away into a word

that sounded like...

"What did you call me?" Childra placed both hands on his chest.

"Nothing more than what you deserve." Ishido walked on resolutely towards

the dojo, Childra following in his wake.

When they got to the dojo, Ryo Saotome was there, a jubilant expression on

his face. "I finally figured it out!" he crowed. "We can all go back

home!" He held up the locket, and a blue portal sprung up in front of them.

As if from nowhere, Miyabi, Ratiko and Gosling emerged from the house and

disappeared into the portal, and Ishido stepped forward as well.

"Ishido! Where are you going?" she cried as she grabbed his arm. "Don't

leave me!"

"I have to," he said in a dull tone. "I can't stand to be near you any

longer."

What? Childra recoiled from him and he shook her hand free. From the

portal, Zannen appeared, her green eyes smiling at Childra. She crossed to

her and enfolded her in a loving embrace.

Ishido turned away. "I know, I know all about her, your dyke lover. She

came to me and told me all about you two. She told me that we could all

live together happily. I'd rather kill myself first. I'm leaving."

"But Ishido! I thought you loved her?" Zannen called out, Childra squirming

in her grasp.

Ishido stalked towards them, his eyes turning black and soulless. "After

she lied to me? Used me as a sex toy? And you has the nerve to suggest I'd

want to be the third member in a twisted threesome?" He spat in her face.

"You make me sick, you whore."

No! Childra screamed as he ran into the blue-black portal, the mists

swirling around him as Zannen held her tightly, Childra's tears streaming

down her face, remembering the look in his black, black eyes-

Childra woke up with a start. Immediately, she felt the bed to the right of

her, then to the left. She was not alone. Sitting up, she breathed a sigh

of relief, then bent over to her right. Pushing back the covers, she leaned

over and breathed softly, "Time to wake up, Ishido."

He mumbled something, then went back to sleep. "Alright, time to bring out

the big guns," Childra said aloud. She reached under the covers and gently

raked her fingers over Ishido's left flank. He sat up abruptly, captured

her hand in his and pushed her back onto the bed. "No tickling," he

murmured to her. "You promised."

"That was last night," she giggled. "This is tomorrow!" Pouncing on him,

she brought both hands to bear, arrowing for his sides, as he tried to keep

her still against the bed. Together, they rolled over to the left and

bumped into something.

"Whazzzat?" Zannen muttered to herself, and lashed out with a kick, sending

Childra and Ishido flying off the other side of the bed. Of course every

action has its equal and opposite reaction, and Zannen learned this the hard

way when she crashed onto the floor. She crawled to the Victorian bed, and

pulling herself up, she angrily stalked over to the giggling, wriggling heap

at the other end of the bed. "Keep it quiet! I'm trying to sleep!"

"Well, I think it's time you woke up then!" Childra grabbed Zannen by the

ankles and tugged downwards, overbalancing her and toppling Zannen onto

Ishido. Then, she leaped onto the pile, one hand tickling Zannen's back, the

other Ishido's flank. They giggled and wrestled, tag-teamed and

double-teamed, until they were tired, sweaty and flushed with happiness.

Finally, Zannen got up off the floor to make breakfast, Ishido took to the

bathroom for a shower and Childra was left making the bed.

It was so good to have them all together like this. It was a good idea to

bring the two loves of her lives into the same century and dimension so they

could get a chance to meet each other and get to know one another. Frankly,

Childra was afraid at first that Zannen would want to kill Ishido, or that

Ishido would want to leave her when he found out, but things turned out

alright in the end. "Everything is perfect," Childra mused to herself.

"That's why you can tell this isn't real."

Childra whirled around, and her face turned hard. "You."

Childra Jansen sighed, and stepped out of the blue swirling portal. "I hate

to be the bearer of bad news, honey, but none of this is real. It's just a

dream."

"It may just be a dream, but it's the dream that I want!" Childra glared at

her doppelganger, and the doppelganger stared back amusedly. "Why can't you

leave us alone?"

"Because I'm you, sweetheart. I know just as well as you do what you want.

You want things to be perfectly happy, but it's not gonna happen." The

doppelganger waved a hand, and an image of Ishido appeared. "It's true.

He'd hate you forever if he learned that you lied to him about your past."

Her other hand waved, and Zannen appeared. "And she *would* kill anyone who

got between her and you. And then, she'd kill you." The double leaned

against a bed post. "You've got a tough choice to make."

"But why do I have to choose? Why can't I have both?" Childra wailed, her

eyes darting from Ishido to Zannen and back again.

"That's not the way the cosmos works. Usually, you only would have met one

of them. You're cheating by having multiple lives. You have to choose."

The doppelganger looked at her watch. "Come on, time is slipping away."

Childra looked at Zannen, her first lover, the first one to truly trust her

capabilities, to see her potential. Then, she saw Ishido, the man who

showed her that she was a real woman, not a pale imitation of someone else.

Torn, between the two, she fell to the floor. "I can't."

"Too bad. Looks like I'll have to make the choice for you." In her

double's hand glowed a wicked Tibetan dagger, a twin to the one Nutkin used

to exorcise ghosts. She hefted it by the handle, then hurled it towards

the two flickering images.

Childra screamed, then time seemed to slow down, as she rushed to intercept

the dagger. She could see her double laughing, eyes glowing red, as her

teeth became fangs. The dagger sliced through the air, charged with

mystical energies, homing in on its target. Childra flung herself into the

air, trying to push Zannen's shade aside, and felt a burning pressure in her

chest. Looking down, she saw the dagger embedded in her chest, her heart

pulsating around it, making the dagger twitch. She turned to see Ishido's

shade look at her reproachfully as Zannen put her arms around her,

supporting her as she slumped to the floor and everything went black-

Childra woke up with a start. "No no no no noooooo!" she wailed, lurching

up out of bed. Beside her, Ishido turned in his sleep, exposing a shoulder.

Impulsively, she kissed his shoulder, hugging him fiercely. "I'll never let

you go," she whispered to him.

"Never let who go?" a voice questioned from the darkness. Childra whirled

around and narrowed her eyes at a shrinking circle of blue light. "No, this

is just a dream, this is just a dream," she muttered, still clutching

Ishido's shoulder. He stirred in his sleep.

"Is it?" Zannen emerged from the darkness, wearing a severe business suit.

Her eyes glittered as she sat down next to Childra, who was shuddering on

the bed. "You've been gone for a long time, love. Didn't you think I'd

come looking for you?"

"But I saw you... you said you killed..." Childra gibbered, blinking through

the tears that filled her eyes.

Zannen reached out to the younger woman, gathering her up in her arms and

rocking her. She put one hand on her hair and kissed Childra's forehead.

"Me? Kill someone? You know I'd never do that."

Childra pulled back and her eyes narrowed. "Truly?"

Zannen laughed. "Okay, maybe I'd kill someone, but only if I had good

reason. You know me, Childra, better than anyone. I need probable cause if

I'm going to go on one of my rage sprees." She frowned when Childra pulled

back and stood up. "What's wrong?"

"This is only a dream, I might as well tell you," she muttered. Childra

gathered up her courage and took a deep breath. "What would you say if you

found out that I was cheating on you?"

Zannen blinked. "And you're asking me this, because...?"

"Because I am."

Zannen took a look at Childra, peering into her eyes. "They're brown. Your

eyes are brown."

"Of course they are, you've always known they were," Childra said

impatiently.

"No, I mean they're brown *now*. Why did you take out your contact lenses?

I've always liked them on you." Zannen perused Childra's face, cupping her

chin with one hand, turning her head from side to side.

"Stop it! This is serious. I'm having an affair... I've had affairs,"

Childra continued. She gestured to Ishido next to her.

Zannen chuckled. "If this is your idea of a joke..." Her voice trailed

off as she realized that both Childra and the boy next to her were naked.

Childra gulped. "This is not a joke." She watched as a dozen emotions

flitted across Zannen's face. Her lips tightened in anger, her jaw

clenching as she stared at Ishido, her dark green eyes boring into hers.

"Why."

It was not a question. Childra pulled up the covers over Ishido and got up

from the bed, Zannen following her to the window seat.

"I suppose you've been wondering where I've been." Zannen sat in stony

silence. "Well, since you've found me, then I guess you know both where and

when I've been and-"

"Why."

"I had just met up with Rat- Reiraku and we were going to go see if we

could find another friend of ours, Kim Thompson." Childra peered at Zannen,

who was fiercely silent. "Then, out of nowhere, some boy appears in a flash

of blue. He bumped into Reiraku and the both of them started to disappear."

"And you followed him."

Childra threw up her hands in disgust. "What else could I do? Did you

honestly want your nephew to disappear in a time portal? Especially with

how much he gets around on his own?" She watched Zannen's eyes soften when

she mentioned Reiraku. "So I followed them, and met up with other time

travelers, and we ended up here, in a universe where Ranma and Akane are

still alive."

"And the boy."

"I'm getting to that part." Childra looked over at the bed where Ishido

lay. "When I met him, I was just teasing him, trying to make the most of

the time adventure I was going on. I mean the others were so concerned

about time and its consequences, especially that Ryo Saotome." Zannen's eyes

widened. "Yeah, he's a son of Ranma's from an alternate future. So while

Miyabi was worrying about getting her parents together, and Reiraku was

worrying about ensuring his future, and Ryo was worrying about repairing the

time stream, I met Ishido."

"Who's he, another son of Ranma's?" Zannen asked, her voice cold.

"No, I'm not sure what place he has in his universe. He is in no way

related to any of the Prime Mover families, as far as I can tell. He was

just caught up in this mess, and I thought I could..." Childra's voice

faltered.

"You thought you could have a good fuck with him, and screw whatever

relationship you had back in your own time." Zannen said flatly.

"No! That's not it at all!" Childra cried. She grabbed Zannen's cold hands

in her own. "I love you, Zannen."

Zannen laughed harshly. "You have a twisted way of showing it."

Childra clutched at Zannen's hands. "When I first met you, I was dazzled by

you. By the idea of you, the power you held, your solitude, your

compassion. And most importantly, by the trust you placed in me." She

stared into Zannen's eyes, hoping to see a spark of sympathy, of pain, of

anything but this dead coldness.

"You took me in, you soothed my fears, you taught me love, you gave me

life... all the things that I've always wanted." She looked down at

Zannen's hands. "All the things I've always needed. But never once did you

let me show those things to you." Zannen inhaled sharply and Childra

continued.

"Have you ever been so thoroughly frightened by anything? So frightened

that you need to find someone to comfort you, to take you in her arms and

hold you, and tell you everything's going to be alright?" She reached up a

hand to Zannen's cheek. "So many times you've done that for me when I wake

up from those nightmares I have. But I've never done that for you."

Zannen moved her lips and Childra placed a finger against them. "What about

when we make love? Always you stalk me, tease me, thrill me... When do I

get to do the same to you?"

Childra sighed. "In Ishido, I see very much the same person I used to be

before I met you. Alone, afraid, lost. I wanted to give him what you give

me and gradually I fell in love, both with him, and with the person I became

in order to do it. I became you."

"Zannen, I don't know what's going to happen to me when I go back home, and

I am going back home. I've changed so much since you've last seen me. I

don't know if you're ever going to love me again, much less trust me after

what I've done to you." She pulled her other hand out of Zannen's and

cupped her face. "Zannen, I *do* love you, and I always will."

Zannen's green eyes softened, as she leaned forwards to kiss Childra.

And Childra woke up.

Ishido woke up with a start. He sensed that he was alone in the bed. A

small panic rose in the back of his throat. "Childra?" he called out

hesitantly. A small murmur answered him and he rose out of bed to join her

at the window seat. "Is there anything wrong?"

Childra took a deep breath and smiled. "No, nothing's wrong. Everything's

great." She hugged him closely to her, clinging to him. Tenderly, he put

his arms around her and caressed her cheek. Her eyes were puffy, like she'd

been crying. Ishido felt a shiver of alarm. "Are you sure you're okay?"

Childra nodded, and buried her face into his shoulder. Ishido patted her on

her back. "Come on, let's get out of here," he said, and sniffling, she

nodded. As he pulled back, he noticed something different about her. It

bugged him while she made the bed, and when they checked out of the hotel.

It wasn't until they reached the Tendo dojo that he realized what it was.

Childra's eyes were green again.

"It is very stupid, really, to run off and leave a perfectly

kind and sympathetic man. ...to run off with no understanding

at all of his true feelings, with no purpose other than to

attract attention and hope to upset him-it is an unplesant sort of

memory to have to live with."

-Lady Murasaki, in 'The Tale of Genji'

THE END

AUTHOR'S NOTES:

8-5-98: For some strange reason I like Childra Jansen. She intrigues me.

How did a woman with so much spirit, so much lust for live end up with a

namby-pamby like Ishido? Not that I don't like him, but frankly, I'm too

much of a Zannen fan to like him. I'm instantly drawn to strong female

characters, (being female myself ^_^) and Chris Willmore's visions of strong

women fascinated me so much that I decided to risk the Converging Series

curse and get involved in this little enterprise. Any comments about this

story can be sent to me at sebast5228 and all flames will be

sent to Skeride, so she can hunt you down and exorcise your ghost.

Trisha L. Sebastian tls Proud Member of the BML Productions Crew


	6. Chapter 6

-  
Converging Series Web Site: ~rpm/converging_series/  
Ranma 2096 Web Site: .ca/~ Childra Jansen's subpage: .ca/~ Hibiki Zannen's subpage: .ca/~ -

ConSer Editor's Preface:

Well now, what to say...

Trisha's always been on my to-read list, and having her write up a story for Converging Series was something that pleasantly surprised me (and had me worried, remind me to tell you kids about the Converging Series Curse some time).

As for the subjects she writes, wella...

Every 'epic' story usually has the hero, the villain, the crisis, and the romance.

Ishido and Childra are that romance.

Readers of Converging Series often ask us what we plan to do with the pair,  
since there is a distinct possibility that these lovebirds may be torn apart by the ol' sea of time.

Well, this story answers that, I suppose.

It also meets the base needs of man in several ways.

1) It features a lesbian relationship. A lot of men, myself included, find that sort of thing darn irresistible.

2) It's got the younger man/older woman angle going. You folks ever stop and think about how old Childra really is? Or how young Ishido is? Slight oedipal complex on his part? Mmmmmmmmaybe.

3) It's got the older woman/younger woman angle going. See (1) for any further notes.

Ah. Right. Okay, by now I guess I've set you all up to think that this is one big lemon orgy-fest.

Aheh, sorry, no. n.n;;;

But it's about people, folks. It's about the heart of the matter, when all the fighting and adventuring and all that are done, and you're faced with a future of question marks.

I just love those kinda stories, don't you?

-rod

R2096 Editor's Preface:

This story already has its opening and ending quotes, but I'll add my own 'Editor's Preface Quote':

"Never fall in love with a bisexual. It will only give you indigestion."  
-From the movie 'Costa Brava'.

Words to live by, especially if the one falling in love is monosexual and unaware of the other's inclinations. Childra Jansen has had it rather easy so far, as romantic triangles go. She's popped into another dimension,  
found a young (VERY young) lover, and had a few enjoyable moments, but nothing lasts, and sometime, soon, she's going to have to make a choice.

In 1996 ConSer Nerima, she's found Ishido Takashima - young, sweet, straight and occasionally psychotic. In R2096's 2096, she's left Zannen Hibiki - the swashbuckling head of the Exploratory History department at U of Tokyo, and a lesbian. Both her lovers are intensily monogamous and monosexual, and unaware that Childra is neither.

How to make the choice? Or must there be a choice? Trisha deals wonderfully with the inner workings of Miss Jansen's mind in the following short story.  
Enjoy!

-Chris Willmore ============================================================================ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

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| | \ \ .| | | |.| |..\ |.| |.| |.| | | | /| | \ |_|. \\_\ |_|. .|_|.|_|...\/..|_|.|_|.|_|.|_|. \|_| \ /\ \ /  
Created by Christopher Willmore. / \ \ /  
4cw6 .ca / / \/  
Based on a story by Rumiko Takahashi and /  
Developed by C. Michael Schumacher / /

R2096 pages: .ca/~4cw6/ \/(Logo:Armakuni)  
============================================================================ Childra &amp; Ishido: In Her Wildest Dreams A Converging Series side story by Trisha L. Sebastian ============================================================================

[Childra Jansen, Zannen Hibiki and the Exploratory History department are creations of Chris Willmore. Ishido/Lobishomem belongs to Kevin Eav. They are being used with permission.]

[The Ranma Universe is being used without permission. Please don't sue me.  
In addition, this side story goes between Act 5 and Act 6 of the Converging Series.]

"Blimey. I'm shagging a lesbian."

"Do I get a prize?"

-Garth Ennis

Childra and Ishido turned away from the window that Happosai flew out of and the blue blaze of light that burned into their retinas.

"Do you think he's gonna make it alright to ... wherever he's going?" Ishido asked, his eyes scanning the scattered magical instruments and the women's underwear around the room.

Childra shrugged, "It doesn't matter right now." She threw her arms around Ishido and hugged him tightly. "What matters is that now that he's gone, we can concentrate on us!" She gave him a seductive look and her lips closed in on his-

"What in the world just happened here?" Childra and Ishido whirled around guiltily.

Miyabi stood in the doorway, her hands on her hips. At the moment, she looked so much like the Akane she remembered from the future that Childra couldn't help but grin. She hugged Ishido tighter to her. "I was about to give my Lobishomem a great big hug for saving my life!"

Ishido turned bright red and Miyabi couldn't help but beam at seeing at least one couple who could get along together. Childra tugged on Ishido's arm and drawing Miyabi aside with the other, she firmly closed the door on the old lech's room. She gave a knowing wink to both of them. "We best not stay too long; he might come back." Ishido frowned and Childra inwardly shuddered, remembering Happosai's grimy hands all over her breasts.

"So," she asked, walking arm in arm with them down the stairs, "have we missed dinner?"

Childra snuggled up comfortably against Ishido's shoulder as they walked down the street back to Ucchan's. She had finished her dinner with a satisfied sigh. No matter what kinds of technology the twenty-first century had to offer, nothing, just nothing could beat Kasumi's cooking. She would have to remember to tell that to Zannen when she got back-

Childra frowned. Go back? Did she have to go back? She was having a wonderful time in the twentieth century, finally figuring out if her theories about this era were correct. She loved talking to Akane, seeing her instead of seeing right through her. She loved eating at Ucchan's,  
loved wandering around Nerima, loved everything. She could do what ever she wanted to do in this timeline and when it was all over, she could go back home without any ill effects to the time stream.

Ryo Saotome had no clue about what he was talking about. Even though he was the one who had brought them all together in this parallel time stream, he had no clue about how the actual mechanics of time travel worked. She, on the other hand, knew everything. She was taught by the best.

Childra thought back to the first time she came back from a trip through the EH's 'time machine'. She was studying Darwin's voyages through the Galapagos, hoping to finish her research on him for her thesis. She came back flushed and excited. What a darling man he was.

Happily, she floated out of the changing room. Her notes were tucked away in her bandolier, her *private* notes. Her new insights on Darwin would change everything they knew about him. She was so lost in euphoria that she didn't notice the woman blocking her path until it was too late.

"Oh, I'm sorry, ma'am..." Childra's voice trailed off when she noticed who the woman was. "Director Hibiki, I didn't mean to run into you like that."

The woman nodded her head in a regal fashion. "No harm done. Tell me, Ms.  
Jansen, did you enjoy your trip?"

Childra grinned. "I loved it! The clothes, the people, Darwin... Every thing was so fabulous. I only wish that I could have had more time there.  
There's so many things I left unfinished." Like her tryst with Darwin.

"The twenty-minute limit *is* a pain, isn't it?" There was a hint of a smile on the director's lips. "Nonetheless, I've found time can be quite flexible... in the right hands."

"Directress?"

The smile was now full-grown, lazy and feral. "Call me Zannen, and we can discuss this some more tomorrow when you report to my office."

"Yes, Dir- Zannen."

Zannen. Funny, for all the time that she had spent in the past (or an alternate version of the past) she had not thought of her lover once.  
Childra used to be scared of her. The technicians and all the other EH operatives called her "the ice queen" and other names that referred to her antecedents and sexual preference. But after that meeting in her office and dinner later on, she realized that the icy facade hid a tender woman, who had to keep up the facade to get her way in the world.

Zannen wasn't an ice queen. She was the pirate queen without a ship. She once wore a costume one Halloween, a red silk blouse knotted at the waist,  
tight black shorts slashed at the knees and calf high black leather boots.  
She was the hit of the EH party, with her gold hoop earings and a real 15th century Spanish cutlass she had belted to her hip. She was all fire that night, charming all the male executives, then laughing in their faces when she had rebuffed their advances. Her Zannen. And later that evening, when they had tumbled into bed, Zannen was all ice, raising goosebumps on her flesh with her cool kisses driving her insane with her methodical slowness until she couldn't take anymore. Zannen had undone her completely that night. Much as Ishido had with his shy tenderness...

Ishido stopped and stared down at her. Childra was completely silent, her eyes drawn and her mouth twisted into a sad smile. He blessed the heavens every moment when he saw her. Ishido felt that if she asked him to run a marathon, then fight a hundred warriors, all while balancing an egg vertically on a spoon held between his teeth, he would cheerfully ask where they kept the eggs. He didn't think that there should be anything in this world that should hurt her. But she seemed so strong, so self-sufficient that he didn't think that there was anything wrong. She told him that she was his; she told him that she would stay. So when he nudged her with his shoulder and asked her what was wrong, he was expecting to see her smile brightly at him, assure him everything was alright and banish the small well of fear that started to spring up in his stomach.

Childra turned towards him with a smile and said, "Hey, Lobis, I've got a good idea. Instead of going to Ucchan's tonight, why don't we go someplace else? Somewhere secluded and romantic." She smiled again, grabbing onto his arm tightly. "Let's try one of those love hotels that I used to read about."

Ishido gulped. "Love hotels?" He blushed to his eyebrows and Childra laughed. She pushed against his shoulder and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. She fluttered her eyelashes and smiled, "For me?"

Ishido swallowed back the lump in his throat. How could he ever refuse her?  
He nodded and Childra smiled, pumping her arm and shouting, "Yatta!" She dragged him off to a phone booth. "There's this one I read about when I was back home. It's supposed to be near here..." Ishido smiled as Childra yammered on and on about the hotel, not noticing the brief flare of pain in her brown eyes.

Ishido was still blushing by the time they reached the hotel. He stared at the menu of choices. Each room had a picture of what it looked like, with a key box underneath. He recoiled in horror from the picture of a certain room with pink frilly sheets, a heart-shaped bed and a disco ball. Childra's eyes followed his gaze and she laughed. "Is that you're style, Lobis?"

He shook his head rapidly and she gushed, "But it's so cute! And I just adore that disco ball!" He gave her a stern look and intoned, "We are not going there."

Childra shrugged. Then her eyes fell on a room with dark paneling and a Victorian bed. She tapped it thoughtfully with her forefinger. "Do you like that one?" she asked him.

Ishido shrugged. Now that they were actually here, he was starting to feel uneasy about the idea. "Whatever is fine with you is fine with me. I trust you, Childra."

Childra beamed at him. She grabbed the keys out of the hole and tugged him in the direction of the hotel. Laughing, she tugged him up the stairs,  
briskly opened up the door and shoved him in. Locking it behind her, she leaned back against it dramatically and said huskily, "Now, finally, we're alone together." Slowly and deliberately, she pulled out the neck- line of her shirt and dropped the key in.

Ishido gulped. "What are you doing?"

"Well," she said, stalking towards him with a predatory gleam in her eye, "I get the distinct feeling that you don't want to be here. So, I'm gonna let you go."

"And?" Ishido knew by now that with Childra there would always be some sort of condition attached to any offer that she had to make. Especially if it concerned him, her, and a private hotel room.

"Well," she said, drawing the word out and trailing a finger up his arm,  
"you can leave *if* you can get the key."

"The key?" Ishido gulped again, looking down at her chest, then back up at her face.

"Yep." There was a whole lot of meaning placed into that small little word.  
Childra laughed as she saw Ishido reach for her arm, then pull away hesitantly.

"What's the matter, Lobis? Afraid of a little cleavage?" she taunted him,  
circling him like a shark does a bloody hunk of meat in the water.

"I'm not afraid," he said, watching her out of the corner of his eye.

"Oh, really?" she stated, hugging him from behind. He could feel her breasts press up against him, and the metal of the key digging into his back.

Ishido grinned. "Really." With a lightning quick motion, he reached over his shoulder and bending slightly, he flipped her over his back and into his arms. Surprised, Childra saw the wolfish grin on his face as he carried her off to the bed. He tossed her onto it and pounced next to her.

Childra's eyes glittered with excitement as he kissed her, his passion burning into her lips. He quickly made short work of her clothing and his and dropping the key onto the nightstand, they made love under the Victorian canopy.

Childra awoke with a start, and found herself alone in the large bed. Zannen was nowhere to be found. Blinking back sleep, Childra swung her legs out of the bed, nearly hitting her head on the canopy, and got up, searching for her slippers. She pushed back the heavy drapes that concealed their apartment windows and blinked out at the morning sun. All of Tokyo lay spread out in front of her, the university a large white span of land to her right. If she squinted, she could see the EH offices in the distance. Is that where Zannen had gone?

She dressed quickly, gulping down a glass of orange juice from the refrigerator and took the stairs down two at a time. People jostled about her as they went to work, to school. Getting her bearings, she pushed her way in the opposite direction of the stream of commuters and towards the EH offices.

The fact that Zannen did not wake up beside her bothered her a bit. Usually Zannen was loathe to wake up when she could sleep in. Usually, while Childra dressed and showered, Zannen would have prepared breakfast for the two of them before they went about their business, Childra to classes,  
Zannen to... whatever. But Zannen was not in their bed. Childra had woken up alone.

In no time at all, Childra found herself in the lobby of the EH building.  
The receptionist who usually greeted her with a smile was replaced by a dour young man who bore a strange resemblance to Ryo Saotome. Ryo Saotome? Where did that name come from?

She found her way to the Directress' office, and knocked hesitantly. No answer. She yanked hard on the door latch and it wouldn't budge. Panic rising in the back of her throat, she clawed and hammered at the door, until it finally opened from the inside. A man looked down at her with familiar green eyes. "Childra!" he exclaimed.

Childra stumbled back, and the man grabbed her by the arm and pulled her inside. The man dragged her to a chair and pushed her into it. Then,  
turning slowly in front of her, he asked, "Well, what do you think?"

"Huh? What do I think of what? Who are you?"

The man smiled a feral grin. "What, don't you recognize me? It's me,  
Zannen."

Zannen? Childra could only stare as he strutted up to her and sat on the edge of the desk. "You're the one who wanted me to do this, remember?" he smiled, legs swinging back and forth.

"Do what?" Childra whispered in a small voice.

"Be a man, after all, that's what you really want, isn't it?" Suddenly his (her?) voice turned cold. "I know about him, I know all about him, your little play toy in the 20th century."

Childra's heart stopped, and Zannen continued, his wide smile reminding her of shark's teeth. "So, I took the liberty of going back to wherever he was and killing him. I stopped at Jusenkyo, too." He placed a hand on her,  
squeezing her bicep painfully. "Now you can have your cake and 'eat' it too." Laughing softly, he moved in to kiss her, pointed teeth dripping with blood-

Childra awoke with a start. Ishido still slept beside her, his breathing deep and regular. Impulsively, she latched on to him, hugging him deeply.  
He stirred and slowly sat up.

"Oh, Ishido, I'm so glad to be here with you!" she murmured into his back,  
pressing kisses against it. Ishido said nothing, but instead swung his legs out of bed and gathering his clothing, he went to the bathroom and locked the door.

Childra stared after him in amazement. What was wrong with him today? She dressed in silence, her fingers fumbling with her blouse and bandolier.  
Settling a dagger on her hip, she rapped on the bathroom door. "Come out,  
Lobis? Don't you want to play with me?"

The door slammed back open and Ishido stalked out. "Ready." It was less of a question than it was a declaration. Confused, Childra followed Ishido out the hotel and back down towards the Tendo dojo. Childra tried to grab his arm, but he shook her off and continued on. "What's wrong?" she asked, a worried expression on her face.

"It's nothing you can fix..." Ishido's voice trailed away into a word that sounded like...

"What did you call me?" Childra placed both hands on his chest.

"Nothing more than what you deserve." Ishido walked on resolutely towards the dojo, Childra following in his wake.

When they got to the dojo, Ryo Saotome was there, a jubilant expression on his face. "I finally figured it out!" he crowed. "We can all go back home!" He held up the locket, and a blue portal sprung up in front of them.  
As if from nowhere, Miyabi, Ratiko and Gosling emerged from the house and disappeared into the portal, and Ishido stepped forward as well.

"Ishido! Where are you going?" she cried as she grabbed his arm. "Don't leave me!"

"I have to," he said in a dull tone. "I can't stand to be near you any longer."

What? Childra recoiled from him and he shook her hand free. From the portal, Zannen appeared, her green eyes smiling at Childra. She crossed to her and enfolded her in a loving embrace.

Ishido turned away. "I know, I know all about her, your dyke lover. She came to me and told me all about you two. She told me that we could all live together happily. I'd rather kill myself first. I'm leaving."

"But Ishido! I thought you loved her?" Zannen called out, Childra squirming in her grasp.

Ishido stalked towards them, his eyes turning black and soulless. "After she lied to me? Used me as a sex toy? And you has the nerve to suggest I'd want to be the third member in a twisted threesome?" He spat in her face.  
"You make me sick, you whore."

No! Childra screamed as he ran into the blue-black portal, the mists swirling around him as Zannen held her tightly, Childra's tears streaming down her face, remembering the look in his black, black eyes-

Childra woke up with a start. Immediately, she felt the bed to the right of her, then to the left. She was not alone. Sitting up, she breathed a sigh of relief, then bent over to her right. Pushing back the covers, she leaned over and breathed softly, "Time to wake up, Ishido."

He mumbled something, then went back to sleep. "Alright, time to bring out the big guns," Childra said aloud. She reached under the covers and gently raked her fingers over Ishido's left flank. He sat up abruptly, captured her hand in his and pushed her back onto the bed. "No tickling," he murmured to her. "You promised."

"That was last night," she giggled. "This is tomorrow!" Pouncing on him,  
she brought both hands to bear, arrowing for his sides, as he tried to keep her still against the bed. Together, they rolled over to the left and bumped into something.

"Whazzzat?" Zannen muttered to herself, and lashed out with a kick, sending Childra and Ishido flying off the other side of the bed. Of course every action has its equal and opposite reaction, and Zannen learned this the hard way when she crashed onto the floor. She crawled to the Victorian bed, and pulling herself up, she angrily stalked over to the giggling, wriggling heap at the other end of the bed. "Keep it quiet! I'm trying to sleep!"

"Well, I think it's time you woke up then!" Childra grabbed Zannen by the ankles and tugged downwards, overbalancing her and toppling Zannen onto Ishido. Then, she leaped onto the pile, one hand tickling Zannen's back, the other Ishido's flank. They giggled and wrestled, tag-teamed and double-teamed, until they were tired, sweaty and flushed with happiness.  
Finally, Zannen got up off the floor to make breakfast, Ishido took to the bathroom for a shower and Childra was left making the bed.

It was so good to have them all together like this. It was a good idea to bring the two loves of her lives into the same century and dimension so they could get a chance to meet each other and get to know one another. Frankly,  
Childra was afraid at first that Zannen would want to kill Ishido, or that Ishido would want to leave her when he found out, but things turned out alright in the end. "Everything is perfect," Childra mused to herself.

"That's why you can tell this isn't real."

Childra whirled around, and her face turned hard. "You."  
Childra Jansen sighed, and stepped out of the blue swirling portal. "I hate to be the bearer of bad news, honey, but none of this is real. It's just a dream."

"It may just be a dream, but it's the dream that I want!" Childra glared at her doppelganger, and the doppelganger stared back amusedly. "Why can't you leave us alone?"

"Because I'm you, sweetheart. I know just as well as you do what you want.  
You want things to be perfectly happy, but it's not gonna happen." The doppelganger waved a hand, and an image of Ishido appeared. "It's true.  
He'd hate you forever if he learned that you lied to him about your past."  
Her other hand waved, and Zannen appeared. "And she *would* kill anyone who got between her and you. And then, she'd kill you." The double leaned against a bed post. "You've got a tough choice to make."

"But why do I have to choose? Why can't I have both?" Childra wailed, her eyes darting from Ishido to Zannen and back again.

"That's not the way the cosmos works. Usually, you only would have met one of them. You're cheating by having multiple lives. You have to choose."  
The doppelganger looked at her watch. "Come on, time is slipping away."

Childra looked at Zannen, her first lover, the first one to truly trust her capabilities, to see her potential. Then, she saw Ishido, the man who showed her that she was a real woman, not a pale imitation of someone else.  
Torn, between the two, she fell to the floor. "I can't."

"Too bad. Looks like I'll have to make the choice for you." In her double's hand glowed a wicked Tibetan dagger, a twin to the one Nutkin used to exorcise ghosts. She hefted it by the handle, then hurled it towards the two flickering images.

Childra screamed, then time seemed to slow down, as she rushed to intercept the dagger. She could see her double laughing, eyes glowing red, as her teeth became fangs. The dagger sliced through the air, charged with mystical energies, homing in on its target. Childra flung herself into the air, trying to push Zannen's shade aside, and felt a burning pressure in her chest. Looking down, she saw the dagger embedded in her chest, her heart pulsating around it, making the dagger twitch. She turned to see Ishido's shade look at her reproachfully as Zannen put her arms around her,  
supporting her as she slumped to the floor and everything went black-

Childra woke up with a start. "No no no no noooooo!" she wailed, lurching up out of bed. Beside her, Ishido turned in his sleep, exposing a shoulder.  
Impulsively, she kissed his shoulder, hugging him fiercely. "I'll never let you go," she whispered to him.

"Never let who go?" a voice questioned from the darkness. Childra whirled around and narrowed her eyes at a shrinking circle of blue light. "No, this is just a dream, this is just a dream," she muttered, still clutching Ishido's shoulder. He stirred in his sleep.

"Is it?" Zannen emerged from the darkness, wearing a severe business suit.  
Her eyes glittered as she sat down next to Childra, who was shuddering on the bed. "You've been gone for a long time, love. Didn't you think I'd come looking for you?"

"But I saw you... you said you killed..." Childra gibbered, blinking through the tears that filled her eyes.

Zannen reached out to the younger woman, gathering her up in her arms and rocking her. She put one hand on her hair and kissed Childra's forehead.  
"Me? Kill someone? You know I'd never do that."

Childra pulled back and her eyes narrowed. "Truly?"

Zannen laughed. "Okay, maybe I'd kill someone, but only if I had good reason. You know me, Childra, better than anyone. I need probable cause if I'm going to go on one of my rage sprees." She frowned when Childra pulled back and stood up. "What's wrong?"

"This is only a dream, I might as well tell you," she muttered. Childra gathered up her courage and took a deep breath. "What would you say if you found out that I was cheating on you?"

Zannen blinked. "And you're asking me this, because...?"

"Because I am."

Zannen took a look at Childra, peering into her eyes. "They're brown. Your eyes are brown."

"Of course they are, you've always known they were," Childra said impatiently.

"No, I mean they're brown *now*. Why did you take out your contact lenses?  
I've always liked them on you." Zannen perused Childra's face, cupping her chin with one hand, turning her head from side to side.

"Stop it! This is serious. I'm having an affair... I've had affairs,"  
Childra continued. She gestured to Ishido next to her.

Zannen chuckled. "If this is your idea of a joke..." Her voice trailed off as she realized that both Childra and the boy next to her were naked.

Childra gulped. "This is not a joke." She watched as a dozen emotions flitted across Zannen's face. Her lips tightened in anger, her jaw clenching as she stared at Ishido, her dark green eyes boring into hers.

"Why."

It was not a question. Childra pulled up the covers over Ishido and got up from the bed, Zannen following her to the window seat.

"I suppose you've been wondering where I've been." Zannen sat in stony silence. "Well, since you've found me, then I guess you know both where and when I've been and-"

"Why."

"I had just met up with Rat- Reiraku and we were going to go see if we could find another friend of ours, Kim Thompson." Childra peered at Zannen,  
who was fiercely silent. "Then, out of nowhere, some boy appears in a flash of blue. He bumped into Reiraku and the both of them started to disappear."

"And you followed him."

Childra threw up her hands in disgust. "What else could I do? Did you honestly want your nephew to disappear in a time portal? Especially with how much he gets around on his own?" She watched Zannen's eyes soften when she mentioned Reiraku. "So I followed them, and met up with other time travelers, and we ended up here, in a universe where Ranma and Akane are still alive."

"And the boy."

"I'm getting to that part." Childra looked over at the bed where Ishido lay. "When I met him, I was just teasing him, trying to make the most of the time adventure I was going on. I mean the others were so concerned about time and its consequences, especially that Ryo Saotome." Zannen's eyes widened. "Yeah, he's a son of Ranma's from an alternate future. So while Miyabi was worrying about getting her parents together, and Reiraku was worrying about ensuring his future, and Ryo was worrying about repairing the time stream, I met Ishido."

"Who's he, another son of Ranma's?" Zannen asked, her voice cold.

"No, I'm not sure what place he has in his universe. He is in no way related to any of the Prime Mover families, as far as I can tell. He was just caught up in this mess, and I thought I could..." Childra's voice faltered.

"You thought you could have a good fuck with him, and screw whatever relationship you had back in your own time." Zannen said flatly.

"No! That's not it at all!" Childra cried. She grabbed Zannen's cold hands in her own. "I love you, Zannen."

Zannen laughed harshly. "You have a twisted way of showing it."

Childra clutched at Zannen's hands. "When I first met you, I was dazzled by you. By the idea of you, the power you held, your solitude, your compassion. And most importantly, by the trust you placed in me." She stared into Zannen's eyes, hoping to see a spark of sympathy, of pain, of anything but this dead coldness.

"You took me in, you soothed my fears, you taught me love, you gave me life... all the things that I've always wanted." She looked down at Zannen's hands. "All the things I've always needed. But never once did you let me show those things to you." Zannen inhaled sharply and Childra continued.

"Have you ever been so thoroughly frightened by anything? So frightened that you need to find someone to comfort you, to take you in her arms and hold you, and tell you everything's going to be alright?" She reached up a hand to Zannen's cheek. "So many times you've done that for me when I wake up from those nightmares I have. But I've never done that for you."

Zannen moved her lips and Childra placed a finger against them. "What about when we make love? Always you stalk me, tease me, thrill me... When do I get to do the same to you?"

Childra sighed. "In Ishido, I see very much the same person I used to be before I met you. Alone, afraid, lost. I wanted to give him what you give me and gradually I fell in love, both with him, and with the person I became in order to do it. I became you."

"Zannen, I don't know what's going to happen to me when I go back home, and I am going back home. I've changed so much since you've last seen me. I don't know if you're ever going to love me again, much less trust me after what I've done to you." She pulled her other hand out of Zannen's and cupped her face. "Zannen, I *do* love you, and I always will."

Zannen's green eyes softened, as she leaned forwards to kiss Childra.

And Childra woke up.

Ishido woke up with a start. He sensed that he was alone in the bed. A small panic rose in the back of his throat. "Childra?" he called out hesitantly. A small murmur answered him and he rose out of bed to join her at the window seat. "Is there anything wrong?"

Childra took a deep breath and smiled. "No, nothing's wrong. Everything's great." She hugged him closely to her, clinging to him. Tenderly, he put his arms around her and caressed her cheek. Her eyes were puffy, like she'd been crying. Ishido felt a shiver of alarm. "Are you sure you're okay?"

Childra nodded, and buried her face into his shoulder. Ishido patted her on her back. "Come on, let's get out of here," he said, and sniffling, she nodded. As he pulled back, he noticed something different about her. It bugged him while she made the bed, and when they checked out of the hotel.  
It wasn't until they reached the Tendo dojo that he realized what it was.  
Childra's eyes were green again.  
-

"It is very stupid, really, to run off and leave a perfectly kind and sympathetic man. ...to run off with no understanding at all of his true feelings, with no purpose other than to attract attention and hope to upset him-it is an unplesant sort of memory to have to live with."

-Lady Murasaki, in 'The Tale of Genji'

============================================================================ THE END ============================================================================

AUTHOR'S NOTES:

8-5-98: For some strange reason I like Childra Jansen. She intrigues me.  
How did a woman with so much spirit, so much lust for live end up with a namby-pamby like Ishido? Not that I don't like him, but frankly, I'm too much of a Zannen fan to like him. I'm instantly drawn to strong female characters, (being female myself ^_^) and Chris Willmore's visions of strong women fascinated me so much that I decided to risk the Converging Series curse and get involved in this little enterprise. Any comments about this story can be sent to me at sebast5228 and all flames will be sent to Skeride, so she can hunt you down and exorcise your ghost.

Trisha L. Sebastian tls Proud Member of the BML Productions Crew

============================================================================ 


	7. Chapter 7

Ranma 1/2 Characters by Rumiko Takahashi.  
Story "Ministry of Confusion" created by Stefan Gagne.

In in infinite universe, there's an alarming amount of possibilities.  
-

It was a rainy Thursday night in the city. The grey skies seemed to be a reflection of the people down below as they moved emotinlessly through the alleys and streets that made up the great big rat race called Tokyo. It was raining hard enough to make seeing difficult, and there were quite a few wrecks already in main street.  
In some darkened alley, a Ryouga was dragging some trash, grumbling about the injustices of life in general and ticked off at a certain customer that really ticked'em off. Ranma Saotome was the kid's name. Just looking at his face got Ryouga irritated for some reason. Ryouga sighed, took in a few deep breaths, and decided to forget the matter. He knew he had quite a temper, and he really did try to control it.  
"You there," a voice said, from somewhere nearby.  
Ryouga turned around, looking for the source of that voice. It had an echo to it. Whoever it was must've been on the fire escapes.  
"Hello Ryouga," the voice said in a cold, flat tone.  
Ryouga's temper flared. He didn't like being messed with like this. No Ryouga ever did. "SHOW YOURSELF!" he yelled, "COWARD!"  
"Coward? No." There was a sound of movement in the darkness. Ryouga looked up to see, but the rain poured into his eyes.  
Suddenly there was a dark form in front of him. He heard several swishing noises and suddenly there was a burning sensation on his chest. Ryouga looked down at the gashes that were there. The stranger's fist suddenly glowed and Ryouga was struck in the jaw with incredible force.  
He crashed to the floor, bleeding and dazed. His jaw was probbably broken too, it definitely was in pain.  
The stranger sighed. "Not much of a fight."  
He looked up and wondered what he did to deserve this.  
"W-why..." Ryouga said. "W-why me..."  
There was a pause.  
The figure bent down. He whispered into Ryouga's ear...

"If you have to ask, you'll never know."

And with a final stab, Ryouga was dead.

-  
Converging Series Prelude: Deviations from the Norm.  
-

The time: a future near you.  
The place: Tokyo, Japan.  
There was a time when revolution, disaster, and radical change had hit Japan. There was a change in the very face of the nation. With earthquakes, floods, and typhoons, the casualties were alarmingly high. There was a labor shortage in Japan. And so, to solve this problem, the ministries selected various persons and themselves for cloning. Basically,  
there were some very familiar faces out there, mostly because there were several thousand copies of those faces.  
With such drastic times came drastic changes in the government of Japan. The democracy was replaced eventually by a system of four "Seperate but Equal" ministries. The Ministriy of Economics, which controls the financial parts of govornment. This branch was governed by Nabiki Tendo until recently, when a government scandal revealed illegal operations which she had overseen. Then there was the Ministry of Data,  
headed by Minister Mousse, which regulates information. The Ministry of Peace, which handles military affairs, was until recently overseen by Kodachi Kuno, until her demise. And then there's the Ministry of Sanitation, operated by Kasumi Tendo. It cleans, maintains, and recently,  
it upholds the law in Japan.

This is a story of one of their cases...

ERM Case file 6902.6991.04.01

It was another lazy red-tape Monday. He was at his desk, as usual, filling out forms instead of doing his job. God only knows WHY they make fill out all these nonsensical paperworks. The coffee wasn't helping much either. There's just something not right about coffee beans grown in Japan, he really believed. Has to be from Colombia or France, or it just wasn't right.  
Hiroshi walked by his desk, carrying a box of his own little paperwork hell to fill out. "Hey, Ed, how's it going?"  
"Not much. You?"  
"Prowler suspect. Some guy's hopping across the skyscrapers at night. Woo-hoo, how danerous," he said emotinlessly.  
Then the phone on the desk rang.  
"Ed Ryouga Marlowe, Homicide," he answered.  
"Marlowe? S'me, Taro. We've got another one."  
"Ryogua murder?"  
"Ryouga murder."  
"Damn. Alright, where's it at?"  
"1135 Tai, in the alley."  
"Any-"  
"No witnesses, sorry."  
He hung up the phone, angry. This case case always got him mad. It had been happening for the past four weeks now, SOMEONE out there was killing Ryougas. Sometimes it was just one, sometimes it was a damn bloodbath of Ryougas. They had nothing in common, except for the hansome face and that ever-so-classy middle name.  
He sighed, got up, put on his Ministry of Sanitation uniform (Ministry of Sanitation? Why on earth did they ever move us to their jurisdiction?  
he often wondered) and headed out.

It was raining.  
"Great," he muttered. I hate rain.

The crime scene was just like all the others, an isolated place where no witnesses would be likely. Down on the floor was the unlucky man of the day, carved up severely. If he didn't die of those cuts, he probbably died of blood loss. "Marlowe, what're you doing here?" This was Shinnosuke Sawada. Ed's partner.  
"It's a crime scene, Shin."  
Shinnosuke still looked a bit clueless.  
"I'M A COP!" yelled Marlowe.  
"Oh! Oh yeah! Right, right. Sorry'bout that."  
Ed sighed. Shinnosuke was a part of the price for the police moving from the MoP to the MoS. He was one of the 'new breed' of cops: kinder,  
gentler, and more suited to being a social worker than a law enforcer.  
Marlowe looked around and found his partner, 'Pantyhose' Taro, who was at the moment gloved and examining the crime scene. "Hey, Pantyhose..."  
"Call me that again and I'll break your nose," moodily replied Taro. He'd acquired the nickname after a sting to bust a rampaging pervert backfired and Taro ended up tied up in, bound by, and wearing pantyhose.  
It was a hillarious sight to the officers who rescued him, until he got free and let them know how much he appreciated their sympathy. From that day was born his unfortunate nickname. It was also how he became infamous for being a bit short-fused when people were joking about it. The only one that ever got away with teasing him was his partner, Ed.  
"C'mon, just joking!"  
"I'll kick your butt later for that," grumbled Taro.  
"Ah... right. Is there ANYTHING we can get outta this?"  
"No fingerprints, no witnesses, nothing under his fingernails, no signs of a struggle. We do have footprints."  
"Better than nothing. Must've been a tough guy to have been slaughtering up Ryougas like that. We're a pretty strong bunch."  
"Actually, the shoe size is kinda average."  
"What?"  
"And by the depth of the impression of his footprints... I'd say he's a little on the light side. No guarantees, but looks like a man's shoe. We'll run a match down at the lab later."  
"Alright then, a fast punk with a thing for razors."  
"Possibly."

Marlowe sat at his desk, looking over the evidence gathered so far. The case had them stumped. Either the perpetrator... or perpetrators were damn lucky, or they were professionals. No witnesses, no clues.  
What did they have so far?  
The first Ryouga that was found... the first one that they think the perp did, it was a sloppy job. Blood everywhere. Looks like he put up a struggle. It was obvious that the murderer took time to cover his tracks, wipe off prints, all the little things. Clean enough to leave no clues, but definitely a sloppy kill with signs of panic. But after that,  
the murders got more savage. Well, not so much savage as... well...  
sadistic. Lately, he'd been really carving up his victims, cutting where it'd definitely hurt. As if he was intending to inflict some serious pain before they died. Not only that, but he's been damn clean about it. Getting almost clinical now. It was as if he was practicing.  
This new one though... something was different. The perp always slashed his victims to death. This one had a busted jaw. Significant? To add to the weirdness, a few of those Ryougas had a funny burnt spot,  
right in their brain. Once our forensic man reported it in, a squad from the MoD came by and took all the corpses. What did the MoD have to do with this case?

The police put out an alert about the Ryouga situation to all branches,  
and Ed's group became a task force dedicated towards finding the serial killer. Any situation that may have anything to do with the Ryouga killings was referred to them.

One day a call was sent to their department. Apparently, a Ryouga in an apartment complex had been late several weeks for the rent. The apartment was a dark, cramped, with unreliable hallway lights and the only bright sources of illumination being from the ends of the hallway. It looked, quite literally, like the lights at the ends of the tunnel. Ed stepped in front of the apartment door while Taro backed him up. "Ready?" asked Taro.  
"Of course." With a little hesitation, Ed unlocked the door and flung it open. They immediately looked for a target to shoot as they carefully made their way into the apartment.  
The place was clean. No mess lying on the floor. There was a pleasant smell coming from the kitchen. Apparently, someone had been here within the last hour, smelled like yakitori.  
They finished walking around the rooms, finding each one empty.  
"Looks like nothing," muttered Taro.  
"Yep. Seems like it." As they walked out the door, Ed muttered,  
"Let's lock this place up and put it under sur... uh-oh."  
"Uh-oh?" wondered Taro.  
Ed nodded his head down the hall, where a dark sillouhetted person in a raincoat was standing there, seeming to watch them both. They couldn't see his face, hidden in shadows, but they could sense he was surprised to see them.  
"You think that's..." whispered Taro.  
"Got a feeling," mumbled Ed. "Take a step towards him."  
They stepped towards him.  
He immediately bolted down the stairs.  
"FREEZE! THIS IS THE POLICE!" they yelled, chasing after him.  
As they came to the stairs, they heard a strange gutteral yell of some sort, and suddenly there was a loud explosion. Dust and debris flew out and they ducked for cover. Once the debris settled, they peered over to where the staircase used to be. "Damn," muttered Taro, "he's packing bombs!"  
Ed pulled out his portable phone and dialed in to the station. "Get the bomb squad and analasys boys down here. We've got the perp's abode."

Days later, much to the bafflement of everyone, the analasys showed nothing. There was no traces of explosives or ammunition on the staircase. There were fingerprints all over the apartment, but they didn't match anything on the MoD records. However, they did find the Ryouga that owned the apartment.

"Hey, think we found the missing Ryouga," said Taro, looking at the shelf above the small fireplace.  
"Oh? Where?"  
Taro held up an urn and opened it. Bits of bone and ashes rattled about. Either there was a heavy smoker in the house, or the resident Ryouga had become incinerated.

It was after the fifth week that they finally got a significant lead as to the identity of their suspect.

Four Ryougas, working on underground systems, all killed and buried in some massive explosion, were the latest victims. The crime scene, as usual, yielded nothing much, except for more footprints, but there was an automated teller nearby, and THAT had a camera. The police had taken the surveilence tape and bring it over to the labs for examination. Ed and the others of the squad at the station watched with serious intensity. They all wanted to nail this guy. Of course, a fair amount of them were Ryougas, so the feeling was understandable.  
The image was all fuzzy, and off to the corner, since the ATM wasn't built for anything but near-distance visuals, but in the background was the manhole where the four Ryougas went in. 1:35 A.M. unknown subject enters the manhole. Carrying some object, maybe a crowbar, maybe a long sword. Can't say for sure.  
Between 1 and 2 in the morning was the coroner's estimated time of death.  
1:50 A.M. mysterious explosion occurs.  
2:00 A.M. subject leaves manhole. And looks -right- into the camera.

"No way," muttered Ryouga.  
"Whoa," said Taro.  
"Haven't I seen this guy before?" asked Shinnosuke.  
"It's Hikaru Gosunkugi! That guy that brought down Nabiki Tendo and set off that big Ministry shakeup!" said Taro.  
The other officers mumbled their agreements as to WHO was on the screen, and their various paranoid theories on the matter.  
"Alright, so our suspect is probbably one Hikaru Gosunkugi. Anybody know the whereabouts of this guy?" yelled Ed.  
"Dunno," said one officer, "heard he went into seclusion after the media attention died down."  
"So... where is he?" wondered Taro.  
"Okay guys, get out there," barked Ed, suddenly taking the leadership role, "get in contact with his former employers, his neighbors, get into the MoDnet, I wanna know where he is!"  
"Um... Ed..." said Taro.  
"C'mon, people, LET'S GO!"  
"MARLOWE!"  
"What?!"  
"The, ah, prints? remember those?"  
"The fingerprints? What about'em?"  
"They don't match, remember?"  
Ed paused. "Ah... he could've altered the records at the MoD. He used to work there, y'know."  
"His motive?" wondered Taro.  
"I DON'T KNOW! JUST GET HIM!"  
"Okay, Ed. But I dunno..." Taro shrugged and went off to his desk terminal.  
"SHINNOSUKE, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" yelled Marlowe.  
Shin blinked. He looked around. "I dunno, what am I doing?"  
It took several officers to hold Ed back, while some others ushered Shinnosuke out of the room. A Ryouga extender with a temper tantrum was a thing to behold indeed. Afterwards, Marlowe took massive dosages of headache medicine. Lately, when his temper flared and he was about ready to hit someone, the nagging headaches would come back strong.  
Price of the job, he always thought.

Somewhere within the offices of the Ministry of Data, a computer alert beeped. Another program activated, sending a signal across Tokyo's telecommunications lines. And finally, in an office somewhere, where a computer screen flickered to life. A pair of eyes twinkled with glee. "Well well well, they're looking for _him_?"  
Data scrolled across her screen.  
"For murder? Oh, this is rich."  
There was a malicious grin.  
"Ah, he's on vacation right now, 'tired of the constant questions and the price of fame' he says. The little rat! Well... I know where you are, DT, and so will the police. After an anonymous tip..."

Taro stared suspiciously at his screen. After four hours of searching through the net and contacting former associates, he'd drawn a blank.  
And then someone e-mailed him an anonymous tip.

GOSUNKUGI FIVE_SEASONS_

An incredibly bad pun on e-mail adresses, but a tip was a tip.  
Warrants were drawn up and the squad headed to Okinawa, where they unceremoniously dragged Gosunkugi out of his penthouse suite and had him behind bars in a matter of hours.

"W-what's going on?!" yelled Gosunkugi from behind iron bars.  
"Why'd you do it, Gos," asked Taro.  
"We've got video placing you at the scene," Ed followed.  
"No use denying it," said Taro.  
"Might as well confess," Ed suggested.  
"Who's this guy?" asked Shinnosuke. He was quickly thrown out of the questioning room.  
"I didn't do anything!"  
"C'mon, Gosunkugi, we've got camera footage and everything," I added.  
"Nabiki's behind this isn't she," accused Gosunkugi, "I'll get her for this."  
Ed punched at the cage, next to his face. He was ready to tear his lungs out. There goes that headache again... dammit. Ed winced and rubbed his temples, wondering if he had any tylenol lying around amongst the lint in his jacket.

Something weird is up thought Ed as he thumbed through the report.  
The sixth week, the sixth set of murders.  
And they had Gosunkugi under surveilence the whole time. He was behind bars while the murder occurred. Either Gosunkugi was innocent, or he had a partner in crime out there somewhere. With much embarrasment, he released Gosunkugi, who was threatening to sue for wrongful imprisonment. With that lead gone, the search went on.  
He sighed and took a sip of the freshly brewed coffee.  
And frowned.  
Something wasn't right. He had PERSONALLY ordered and paid for several cans of COLUMBIAN coffee, the real stuff, with REAL creme and REAL sugar.  
This... swill... whatever it was, was NOT the coffee that he had been using lately.  
"ALRIGHT, who's been screwing with the coffee brewer?!"  
"Hey, wasn't me," said Taro. 'Pantyhose' had a bad temper about his nickname. Ed was even worse when it came to someone messing with his coffee.  
"WHO THE H... WHO MADE =THIS= COFFEE?!" yelled Ed, holding up the offending pot of coffee.  
"S'cuse me, Ed, gotta refill the coffee machine," said Shinnosuke,  
apparently oblivious to Ed's mad rant. Upon digesting this request, Ed became deadly quiet, then opened his mouth.  
"Did you say... _refill_?" asked Marlowe.  
"Yeah, we were out this morning and I had to put in some more grinds."  
Ed was beginning to look a little more capable of violence than usual,  
seeing as how apparently Shinnosuke had as much talent with making coffee as an Akane extender did with cooking. Before he could begin to start violence on the unsuspecting and absent-minded officer in question,  
Shinnosuke turned to Ed and said, "y'know, this weird coffee stuff tastes awful. Where'd you get this stuff?" He lifted the can up high.  
Ed looked at the odd looking canister. "I didn't buy anything in a can like that." He looked around. "Hey! Who bought this coffee?!" After a while of silence, Ed asked, "Shin... where'd you get this stuff anyways?" "I got it at the... I got it at... y'know, I forgot."

Meanwhile, in Evidence Storage...

"Hey, where'd those Ryouga ashes go?"

Another week, another murder. The murderer had some variety in his technique this time. One Ryouga beaten to death, one bled to death, and one was killed by internal explosion. The forensic team was baffled. Apparently, there was an explosion _inside the Ryouga's body_, and bits of bone tore through his organs. However, there was no trace of explosives of any type on the body. The fourth one was hit repeatedly with some sort of energy. Again, the forensic team was at a loss as to exactly what it was.

Ed, Taro, and Shin lounged at the Hollywoood Diner, mulling over the case. Ironically, everyone forgot why Shin was along for the ride.  
"Well, obviously," said Ed, munching on a donut, "this guy hates Ryougas."  
"Obviously," agreed Taro.  
"Certainly," added Shin. "Ah... who?" They managed to ignore him.  
"He's a skinny young man, with black hair and large eyes."  
"He's Hikaru Gosunkugi."  
"Or looks like him."  
"Um... did I order something yet?" wondered Shinnosuke.  
"Oh COME ON! We've got his face on camera!"  
"But Ed..."  
"It was HIS face on the film, and you're saying it's not him?"  
A Ryouga extender passed by and asked, "need anything else?"  
"Refill on the coffee," said Ed Ryouga Marlowe.  
"Okay, sir." The Ryouga waiter walked off.  
"AHEM." Taro smirked.  
"Ahem? Ahem what?" asked Marlowe.  
"Think I've got an idea of what's going on. Call me crazy, but... well... hear me out."  
"Go on, I'm listening..."  
"Gosunkugi extender."  
Ed blinked. "It... would explain a few things... wouldn't it."  
"C'mon, the Ministries have done illegal extender production before. We had Gosunkugi under surveilence and STILL someone gets killed. I think... I think..." "Go on..."  
"I think they've made another line of extenders. Supposed to have been secret, like, I dunno, assasin extenders, or something. I mean, who'd expect a wimp like Gosunkugi to be able to kill you? Anyways, they made a bunch of assasin extenders, let'em loose with us citizens, and were planning to use'em later, for, y'know, dark ops."  
"Dark ops?"  
"Undercover operations and such."  
"Riiiight."  
"Yeah, anyways, something must've gone haywire. The extender freaked. And maybe now his designated target was a Ryouga."  
"Taro."  
"Yeah?"  
"Start drinkin' decaf."

Ed turned away from his partner and took another deep sip of coffee.  
Despite his words, Ed had a look of doubt in his face.

"Um, hey, did I order anything yet?" asked Shin.

Ed dropped Taro and Shin off at their apartments and headed back to his own little cube-in-the-tower for some well-deserved rest. He parked the car in the garage, stepped out, and got clubbed in the back of the head.

Hours later, he woke up, tied to a chair and with a damn lamp in his face. He reacted as any Ryouga would...  
"You're gonna PAY for this!" They were, if he ever got free. Ed Ryouga Marlowe fueled by donuts and coffee was a nearly unstoppable force.  
"Listen up, Marlowe, and listen up good," somebody said, "Lay off Gosunkugi, alright?"  
"Ah... right."  
"Trust us, he isn't. He's got an airtight allibi, understand?"  
Ed understood. No matter what, Gosunkugi wasn't to be touched. He was beginning to think that maybe Gosunkugi was innocent anyways. Although at the moment, after being kidnapped, bound, and put under a spotlight, his opinion was swinging the other way again.  
"Why the big fuss over him?"  
"Let's just say that if something unfortunate happens to him, it'll cause a rather unpleasant chain of events. Everybody loses. Got it?"  
"And... even if he IS somehow connected to these killings?"  
Someone sighed.  
"He ISN'T the killer, you thickheaded moron."  
"Well, there's this footage..." baited Ed. He just wanted to see how they'd respond to that.  
"You ever think that he might've been cloned?"  
There was a fairly tense pause.  
"The MoE, they used to have cloning tanks, you get my drift?" said the voice.  
"Are you saying the MoE is doing illegal ops?"  
"Just maybe. Or... you know where Nabiki Tendo is nowadays, right?"  
"The former head of MoE? Heard she was running some small time company."  
"She's running TENDOM now. Modest factory on Tanuki and 84th street. High tech stuff she's working on, we all hear. High Tech. Y'know? Be sure to check for hidden spots now. See ya." "Hey! Wh-" was all Ed managed before he got hit by a spray and took another quick nap.

Somewhere in town...

"Did you get it done?"  
/Yes, Mr. Mousse. He oughta be looking her way about now./  
"Good. Last thing we need is Gosunkugi raising hell. We all know what happens if he ever gets in trouble..." Mousse frowned. Gosunkugi had lots of information on lots of people, and Mousse was one of them. As 'insurance' he'd told all the current heads of Ministries that if he was hassled in retaliation for his part in uncovering the scandal involving Kodachi Kuno and Nabiki Tendo, he'd need, no, demand their assistance in getting out of whatever trouble was sent his way. Mousse really regretted hiring Gosunkugi.  
/You want me to keep an eye on Marlowe?/  
"No. That's alright."  
/Alright then. G'night boss./  
"See you tomorrow."  
/And good luck with Shampoo, boss./  
"Shut up."

Ed and Shin headed down to the TENDOM corporation building, a relatively small tower in the sea of buildings that was downtown Tokyo. Once they went beyond the steel doors, the high level of taste that the former director of the MoE had was showing. There was quite alot of mahogany and wood decor, and nowadays that sort of thing was expensive nowadays. A Nabiki extender greeted them. "Do you have an appointment?" she asked, making sure they didn't feel welcome. "Marlowe and Taro, MoE Homicide," said Marlowe, flashing his badge. "I see." With frigid calm that could only be done by a Nabiki extender, the secretary turned away from Marlowe, as if he was Just Another Person, and had a brief talk with someone unseen through the vidphone, then turned her attention back to them. "Through those doors,  
please."  
Marlowe and Taro made it a point to ignore the secretary as they passed. They weren't in the mood for snooty secretaries, and had to blow off steam somehow.

"Marlowe and Taro, MoE Homicide," said Marlowe. Taro just stayed quiet and tried to look tough. It seemed to be the appropriate thing to do.  
"Gentlemen, have a seat," said Nabiki, "what seems to be the problem?"  
"Miss Tendo," began Marlowe, "do you recognize this man?" He pulled out a photo.  
"Who that is," said the unamused Tendo, "and what connection he has to me are public knowledge, Mr. Taro. Please don't waste my time with redundant questions."  
"I'm Marlowe, he's Taro, and there's no need to be rude." Reminding himself that he doesn't hit girls, Marlowe continued. "I'll be blunt,  
Miss Tendo, do you have equipment to generate extenders here?"  
Nabiki looked somewhat insulted. "Please, officer, it'd be foolish of me to make the same mistake twice. I'm out of the extender business,  
thank you."  
"Oh? So... what's TENDOM about then?"  
Looking a bit more relaxed, Nabiki said, "TENDOM is just this little company, as you see, a project to get me financially back on my feet."  
"And TENDOM is in the business of...?"  
"We're developing replacements for extenders. No offense meant."  
Nabiki smiled, pleased that the statement had mildly offended the present company.  
"Replacements for extenders? WHAT can you use to replace extenders?!"  
"Why, robotics, of course." She leaned back, a look of self-satisfaction on her face. "Imagine, no more extender rampages! No more questions on morality of labor conditions! Lower production costs!"  
"We're obsolete now, is that what you're saying?" asked Marlowe, his Ryouga fangs becoming a little prominent.  
"Not so much obsolete but morally questionable."  
"You sayin' I've got bad morals?!"  
"No, I'm saying that it's become morally questionable to continue the production of human beings merely to fit in as a gear in the clockwork of society. We've created a slave class, and that's becoming unacceptable to society. You can't tell me that you've got all the same rights as 'naturally born' people, even if you are an officer."  
"Maybe not now, but things are changing," grumbled Marlowe.  
"Yes, things are changing! There's going to be no more POINT in making extenders, now that they're going to eventually get the same rights as humans. What's going to stop an extender from refusing to do the job that he was bought just to do? Nothing, if the extender rights movement keeps going the way it is. Robots, on the other hand, don't have any desires,  
no dreams, no complaints, no demands, and if you're cruel to a robot then who's going to complain? What's so immoral about kicking around a robot?"  
Marlowe was about to say something in an angry response, but a quick kick on the shin by Taro reminded him of the matter at hand. "So... have you had any success so far?"  
"Oh, we're doing very well, in the mechanics phase. We've got a humanoid frame that's capable of mildly complex movements. Probbably find a niche in the construction industry."  
"Are these robots strong?" asked Marlowe.  
"Very strong." Tendo didn't like where these questions were headed.  
"And their AI?"  
"They do what they're told. Nothing more."  
"Can they handle complex tasks?" he asked, giving a slightly accusing look to Nabiki.  
"That... depends. Is there anything else you want?"  
Marlowe gave a slight grin. It didn't mean anything but he hoped it'd make Tendo a little nervous. Looking at his watch, he said, "Well... I think I must be going now, Miss Tendo. Thank you for your time."

As they were striding out of the building, Taro pulled out a small portable phone and started talking. "We're out, guys. Find anything?"  
/We scanned the place as best as we could./  
"And?"  
/No extender tanks around here./  
"How about the ministries?"  
/The places with the tanks are the only ones that have'em./  
"Thanks. Well, Marlowe, looks like that one's a miss. What do you think?"  
"What do I think? Well... let's see... someone was trying to line up Miss Tendo for a fall."  
"Incredible lack of evidence, though, isn't it?" asked Taro.  
"Yeah... but... think on this. Maybe we aren't looking for an extender."  
"Oh. You think it's a robot?"  
"Maybe. If Miss Tendo's being modest about how advanced their robots are, then yeah, could be a robot. OR... it could be someone with an interest in extender sales that wants to put an end to her project."  
"Oh yeah... there is that. Say, I've been meaning to ask, but, how's it feel to be an extender?"  
"You mean the feeling that you're not an individual, and are in fact one in every twenty faces out there?"  
"Yeah."  
"We all deal with it. S'no big deal. We get a manual to read when we're bored. Coping with clonehood. Wanna read it?" "No thanks."

Meanwhile, somewhere else...

*RIIIING*RIIIIING*RIII-  
"Hello?"  
/They just searched TENDOM, thoroughly./  
"And?"  
/They're clean./  
"WHAT? But... but it has to be them! Who else could it..."  
/Just telling you what happened./  
"Did they scan the place?"  
/From top to bottom./  
"There... there has to be another lab somewhere... that's it..."  
/Want me to start looking around?/  
"Yeah, thanks."  
/Don't worry, Gos, you've got an airtight alibi./  
"And I'm innocent too."  
/If you say so./

Somewhere, on the rooftops, it was a quiet, dark, neon &amp; moonlight lit night. There was a shimmer.  
A small spark of blue light.  
Suddenly, the spark exploded into an oval shape, hovering in the air for a secod... then dissapearing. In it's place, a young pig-tailed man stood, gripping a flickering locket and wearing a grim expression.

Meanwhile...  
The pawn shop owner sat in his small, crowded shop, watching the rain drizzle by his storefront window. It was a slow day, like every other day.  
A few old computers sold here, some actual wood furniture sold there... profitable, but slow.  
The front door opened, slowly. A pale, gaunt individual walked in, his eyes looking somewhat shifty.  
"Hello! May I help you?"  
The person glanced at him. "I'm... looking for jewelry... you might say."

a few minutes later...

As Taro drove back to the station, Ed mulled over the case. Seemed to be getting awfully political for a simple case of serial homicide. Ed pushed those thoughts aside and decided to try out some of those zen mental excercises to relieve some stress. He was finally getting into a nice, quiet, zen-like state of mind when...

#All units, all units, head to 82nd and Main, the MHI building, repeat,  
all units head to 82nd and Main, the MHI building, first floor pawn shop. Two suspects, possibly armed and dangerous involved in street riot. Repeat...#

"Oh well, let's see what's going on," said Taro.  
So much for meditation thought Ed.

They arrived on the scene somewhat late. In front of a small pawn shop on the first floor of the Meiji building there were already several squad cars.  
"What've we got?" he asked a passing officer.  
"Looks like petty theft, assault, property damage, and murder," he answered, pointing to a gaping hole in the side of the building. "There's a dead Ryouga extender in the building and we've got one guy in custody now. Says he's a Saotome, but he's got no identity on the MoD files."  
"What's he look like? Skinny? Pale?" asked Ed.  
"Nope. Kinda average, black hair, about five-seven, ponytail."  
"Damn."  
"But," added the officer, "the other guy was skinny."  
"Other guy?"  
"About five-six, black hair, short, skinny, pale.  
"WHAT?!" Ed pulled out his cellular phone and started yelling...

From the rooftops nearby, a figure in the shadows grinned, spinning a cane-like object in his hands briefly, then ran off into the night.

The prisoner transit vehicle rolled silently towards the station, a solitary figure locked in the back. From a narrow slot, one of the officers looked at their prisoner. The resemblance to the fiancee of famous MoD head Akane Tendo was close, but it definitely wasn't Ranma Saotome. While he put up quite a fight when the officers had tried to apprehend him, at the moment he was looking extremely docile. Satisfied that the prisoner would try nothing, the officer was about to turn away when a sudden blinding flash of light struck. By the time his vision cleared, the prisoner was gone.

Thirty minutes later...

"Great... just great," Ed muttered, sulking in the passenger seat of Taro's car. "BOTH suspects got away clean."  
"What d'ya think of the other guy we caught?" wondered Taro.  
"The guy that dissapeared while in custody? Yeah, that was suspicious. The guy matched the description and claimed to be a Saotome... although he got the first name wrong, and the iris scan didn't match at all." "Think someone's trying to set Akane Tendo's fiancee up for a fall?"  
asked Taro.  
"Could be... they tried to set up Nabiki Tendo already. Thing is...  
WHO is behind all this? Is someone really out to scandalize the heads of them Ministries? Are they working with the killer? Or was it just a case of one bunch using another event to their own advantage?"  
"Lotsa questions, Ed. Hey, we're at your place." The squad car pulled over to a nondescript towering apartment complex and slowed to a stop. "See ya tomorrow, Ed." "Yeah, see you tomorrow, Pantyhose."  
"Right, whatever, coffee-boy."

Taro drove off, leaving the Ryouga extender to stand out in the sidewalk momentarily. Ed stopped for a moment to have a bit of idle chit-chat with the doorman. A little about the weather, some talk of that baseball pennant race, and a bit of politics. After a short while, he said goodnight to the doorman and walked up the stairs (he was enough of a health-minded person to make a point to use the stairs as often as possible).  
Finally, he reached his apartment, some floors up. Later, he would criticize himself for allowing this to happen, especially with him being a policeman and such. As he unlocked his door, Ed sensed something behind him. He turned, but not quick enough as a severe blow to the back of the head knocked him unconscious.

A lean figure, his features obscured in the shadows of the doorway,  
grinned. "Hello again, Ryouga," he hissed. "Let's make some art."

Marlowe woke up groggily, feeling a throbbing pain in his wrists and legs. His back seemed to be a bit stiff as well.  
"Hello again," said a calm, cold voice. Ed opened his eyes and was met with a sudden attack of acrophobia. "Nice view, isn't it?" asked his captor, currently out of sight. Ed found himself tied to the minute arm of the grand clock across from his apartment and many many floors up.  
"What the hell is this? Who are you?" asked Marlowe.  
There was a sigh.  
"Ryouga, Ryouga," sighed the figure, sounding genuinely tired, "if you STILL have to ask," he added, tightening the bonds on Marlowe's feet,  
"then you are dense beyond belief."  
"I'm warning you, I'm a MoS officer! Crimes committed against officers of the law will get you SERIOUS punishment! Do you hear me?!" yelled Ed.  
The figure finally came into view, putting his face right next to Marlowe's in an angry scowl. "Policeman, plumber, delivery guy, ALL your little disguises, Ryouga, they don't matter to me." In the glow of the dim light, he could see clearly it -was- Hikaru Gosunkugi, or an incredible imitation of him. There was something different in his manner,  
however. The way his eyes bore down on him, the way he sneered, the nature of his movements was, for lack of a better descrition,  
somewhat snake-like. Also, he couldn't see exactly, but from the corner of his eye, Ed could see that the stranger was twirling a cane of some sort in one of his hands.  
"My name is Ed Ryouga Marlowe, NOT just Ryouga, and you'd better untie me NOW, Gosunkugi." At the mention of the name 'Gosunkugi', the Gosunkugi-ish figure flinched. "WHY you keep on adding on names to your own I've never figured out,  
Ryouga," said the Gosunkugi lookalike, "and I most certainly am not Gosunkugi." With that said, he punched Ed in the nose. There was a muffled snapping sound and Ed grunted in pain. "Offend me again and I'll do more than break your nose." The Gosnkugi-like figure glanced upwards, where the hour hand of the clock was up high. "You see that hour arm up there? You notice the time?  
It's about... 12:17am right now." He paused, looking a bit meditative.  
If this was a robot thought Marlowe, it had incredibly advanced AI.  
It's either that, or an extender gone wild.  
"You know, I've never talked to you much before... in all those times I've killed you, that is," mumbled the Gosunkugi-ish person. "But now... you see... I'm leaving. And I wanted to make a statement before I left. You see up there? There's a bomb in that arm. I know, I know, I've never done bombs before, not really my style... but I wanted to stretch my wings a little." Ed opened his mouth to say something, but a quick punch to the jaw ended that attempt. "Don't interrupt, I'm ranting. Now, where was I...  
oh. The bomb. When next the minute and hour arms touch... there should be a big red spot on the clock face for all to see." The person peered at Ed, as if thinking things over. "Oh... I almost forgot, you could still call for help. Must fix that." Whatever was twirling in the Gosunkugi-twin's hand came to a stop and was lifted. Marlowe felt cold steel touching his neck.  
"Any last words before I momentarily disable your ability to speak?"  
If he managed to survive this experience, he'd want to know one thing... and he asked. "Yeah... why?"  
"Why? Why what?"  
"Why me? Why Ryougas? Why'd you do it?"  
The Gosunkugi-person's face darkened. "Oh... oh oh oh... there's too many reasons... you were first just a thorn in my side... then you became a REAL PAIN... and then... and then you JUST HAD to kill her, didn't you? But... butbutbut... I cut you I stab you I choke you I beat YOUR BRAINS OUT and there should be only ONE of you... only one of you HERE, anyways,  
but you STILL WON'T GO AWAY! WHY WON'T YOU STAY DEAD?!" His face turned red with anger, and then after a deep breath, the mask of calm and order returned to his features. "And there you have it."  
"What the hell are you?"  
"Sorry, I've wasted enough time. Goodbye." The Gosunkugi-thing raised it's arm back, and the cane-like object became somewhat clearer... it was something black, with a curved handle... but the most obvious feature was the two inch blade at the end. Everything else was unclear in the dim light.  
Not a good way to die thought Marlowe with much gloom. He shut his eyes and braced for the impact of metal on flesh.

Instead, there was a gunshot.

He opened his eyes and turned his head as far as it could go. He managed to see the Gosunkugi lookalike stagger back, clutching his shoulder, then falling off the edge of the ledge.  
"Hey, Marlowe, that you?" came a voice from above.  
"Hiroshi?!"  
"Heya, Marlowe! Small world isn't it?"

Det. Hiroshi, on the ledge above the clock, looked down. He'd been waiting here on a hunch that the rooftop vandal would show up near here. In the process, he'd fallen asleep for a short while. But after a while the sounds of ranting woke him up. He peeked over just in time to see someone about to stab a Ryouga extender. Remembering about the case from talk in the office, Hiroshi realized what was going on and took a shot just before what appeared to be an attempt at murder took place.

"Get down here an' untie me!" yelled Marlowe.  
"Hold on, I'm watchin' the guy drop!" Maybe it was sadistic of him,  
but Hiroshi couldn't help but watch as the body flew through the air towads unyielding pavement below.  
Down below, Ed's temper was ticking. "CUT THE CRAP AND GET ME OUTTA HERE!"  
Meanwhile, Hiroshi was keeping track of the descent. "60, 50, 40 floors...whoa! Somethin' weird Marlowe," said Hiroshi.  
"Yeah? What?"  
"Your guy's glowin' blue!"  
"What?!"  
Far below, as the Gosunkugi lookalike plunged downward, he began glowing blue, then became a bright blue comet blazing towards the street.  
And then...  
"What the hell?!" yelled Hiroshi.  
"WHAT? WHAT? UNTIE ME ALREADY SO I CAN SEE WHAT'S GOING ON!" roared Marlowe.  
"Your guy just dissapeared."

Down below, a street urchin heard something clatter. He picked up a large, black stick-like object. Seemed to be relatively unscratched. The pawn shops oughta give him a decent amount for this...

A couple of days later, Marlowe was back in the office typing out the report for the case. His nose was bandaged up, getting him unwanted glances. To add insult to injury, Taro inked a piggy nose onto the cast while Ed was asleep. It wasn't a good start to the day. However, the coffee was good, and Shinnosuke managed to remember to get more plastic cups.  
He took a sip of coffee and thought the case over. It started out as just another serial murder... then got messy when the name Hikaru Gosunkugi was dragged into it. After some anonymous tips, things were getting damn political.  
Whoever the killer was, it was confirmed that it was definitely not Gosunkugi. While Ed was held captive, Gosunkugi was a guest at a very public party. His alibi was airtight.  
Who was the killer? From blood samples at the clock tower confirmed that it wasn't likely to be a Gosunkugi extender... unless the DNA was altered in his growth stage so that he wouldn't be exactly like Gosunkugi.  
If they had the patience to alter blood and DNA, why not just make him look like a non-celebrity... unless they wanted Gosunkugi blamed for the murders.  
Which lead to the revenge factor, and Nabiki Tendo. Her robotics,  
perhaps? No... robots don't bleed. Although... cyborgs do. A little plastic surgery, some robotic enhancements. But what would Nabiki Tendo gain by slaughtering Ryouga extenders? Nothing, really. She'd benifit by causing extender rampages, not killing them off.  
The Gosunkugi lookalike mentioned a 'her' that was killed. Ed began wondering who. The only dead woman of any importance he could think of was Kodachi Kuno. Maybe this was a post-death arrangement she made just in case she met a premature end? But then what did she have against Ryougas?  
And what about the way that Gosunkugi-thing dissapeared? Big blue glow, then nothing. Teleport technology wasn't a reality, unless the government was hiding something (and considering their past behaviour,  
that was a possibility). Self destruct, perhaps? It could've been. The wind was a bit strong that night, and if he'd burned himself to ashes,  
they'd be scattered all over the city. Even the weapon he was carrying wasn't found. "Screw it, screw it screw it screw it." He closed the file on his word processor and took another sip of coffee. Ah... a good brew today.  
Marlowe had a feeling that this case was over and there'd be _no_ answers from the Powers That Be. Might as well close it out.  
He took another sip of coffee, then stared at it... and then started glowing an intense red.

"SHINNOSUKEEEEEEEEE!"

Meanwhile, down at the lab...

"Hey, where'd those urine sample cups go?"

-  
-end prelude-  
-

What seest thou else In the dark backward and abysm of time?

-W. Shakespeare

-  
Time to live Time to lie Time to laugh Time to die

Takes it easy, baby Take it as it comes Don't move too fast And you want your love to last Oh, you've been movin' much too fast

Time to walk Time to run Time to aim your arrows At the sun

-The Doors -


	8. Chapter 8

Act 6

The story so far...

ACT I:

In an alternate reality where Ranma married Shampoo, their

daughter had somehow obtained a magic locket that allowed her to cross

dimensions. A few accidents later, several of Ranma's 'children' from

various realities ended up in one reality, where Ranma was still a

teen-age youth. One among them, Ryo Saotome (son of Ranma and Ukyou)

managed to get a hold of the locket before Cologne was about to do

something devious with it. Following his victory, Ryo sent all the

children of Ranma &amp; company to their proper realities, and then

prepared to go home himself. Something, however, went wrong. He ended

up in a bizarre version of Tokyo in 2096 and accidentally dragged

along Ratiko Hibiki and Childra Jansen in his attempt to fix this

mistake. That attempt dragged him to two other realities with amazing

speed. From them, he accidentally brought Miyabi, daughter of Ranma

and Akane, and Ishido, a mysterious amnesiac hunted by a shadowy

organization. Finally, they stopped in a reality where Ranma &amp; co.

were still teens, but had never met them before.

ACT II:

Childra, curious as to what caused their dimensional/reality

shift, watched Ryo Saotome closely, and discovered that the locket is

the source of their troubles. She tried, and succeeded, in stealing

the locket from him without his noticing. Ratiko schemed to make sure

that the history of his world took place, and began a plan to kill

Ranma and frame Miyabi for the murder. He succeeded in getting a blood

sample from her and a torn piece of her clothing, but was interrupted

before he could go through with his plan. In a talk with Ishido, he

found out about a certain umbrella-wielding maniac threatening to kill

Ryouga in Ishido's reality. In a panic, Ratiko rushed to Childra, and

accidentally triggered the locket. The three of them found themselves

on a bridge somewhere. Before they left, they accidentally dragged

along Ryo Muhoshin, a person that looked amazingly like Hikaru

Gosunkugi, but in truth was a bit more devious. Bringing him along,

the four crossed several realities, narrowly escaping danger, capture,

and death. Then they returned to the Nerima they had left from, with

an irate Ryo Saotome waiting for them. Meanwhile, Miyabi had put up

with the antics of her grandparents (Soun and Genma) who were

overjoyed at her existence, distressed at the way her parents were

fighting, greatly annoyed at her trans-dimensional half brother Ryo

Saotome, and had decided that a talk with Grandmother Nodoka was in

order.

ACT III:

Miyabi went to Nodoka's to talk, unaware that Ranma's life was in

danger due to the promise Genma made to Nodoka regarding manliness and

Ranma's upbringing. The end result was that Nodoka was invited to

dinner, expecting to see her son, daughter-in-law, and granddaughter.

Miyabi's age, almost that of Ranma, was, unfortunately, not foreseen as

a major problem by Miyabi. Upon returning from her accidental trip

through time, Childra surrendered the locket to Ryo Saotome once

again. Meanwhile, the extra passenger they picked up, Ryo Muhoshin,

passed himself off as 'Ryo Gosunkugi, son of Gosunkugi and Ukyou' and had

everyone fooled. Nabiki got a hold of the material Ratiko was planning to

frame Miyabi with and used it to blackmail him into buying her dinner,

among other things. They end up at Ucchan's, where he washed dishes to

pay for things. He eventually got drunk, hit on Ukyou, and was knocked

out by a blow to the head. Childra and Ishido became more... intimately

attached. When his guard was down, Ryo Saotome was knocked out by Ryo

Muhoshin, who then accidentally triggered the locket and disappeared into

times and places unknown.

Ryo Saotome woke up much later to find the locket gone, an image of

it burned in his hand, and discovered what was inside the locket:

A picture of him and Bell-chan, his fiancee.

ACT IV:

Ryo Saotome began making plans to assemble the locket that he was

apparently destined to create (the photo from the locket being proof

of that). Meanwhile, Ratiko spent the day with Nabiki, buying her

food and treats while also beginning to feel somewhat attracted to

her. Ishido and Childra sorted through their fears and anxieties, but

in the end came together in a happy reunion within the local

graveyard. Miyabi &amp; the Tendo household held a dinner for Nodoka, who

was expecting to see her son at last. What happened instead was that

she had an interesting experience with a time traveler (Happosai) and

realized that Miyabi was, in fact, Ranma's daughter from the future.

She also assumed that 'Ranko' was Genma's daughter from an affair.

Soun briefly assumed Akane was Genma's child from an affair with his

deceased wife. Things got ugly, but got better again as they usually

did (although Nodoka still thinks Ranko is Genma's illegitimate

child). Meanwhile, Under the distrustful eyes of Childra and Ishido,

Ryo Saotome used the arcane resources within Happosai's room to create

the locket.

ACT V:

Ryo Muhoshin, having borrowed the locket from Ryo Saotome by means of

an umbrella applied to the back of the head, found himself whisked away

to a post-modern, futuristic world populated by thousands of Kasumis,

Ryougas, and other familiar faces (Ministry of Confusion). After losing

the locket in a fall, he settled in and tried to make the best of it,

striking up a friendship with a Kasumi extender named Ami. The

relationship progressed to the point of a date, at the end of which Ami

was murdered by a berserk Ryouga extender. Muhoshin killed him in

retaliation, and began a slow but methodical hunt for Ryougas across the

city.

Ryo Saotome, having remade the locket with some help from three

goddesses of time, arrived in this world just as Muhoshin killed a Ryouga

to recover his own locket. The two fought inconclusively, with Muhoshin

escaping.

Leaving 'Ministry of Confusion' in a hurried fashion, Muhoshin

rescued one world's Kasumi from a group of terrorists intent on beating

her to death. A veteran time-jumper already, she took the name Kaeri to

distinguish herself from the more serene person she had been. The two

stayed together for a few weeks, with Kaeri recovering and picking up

some of Muhoshin's skills. Still obsessed with the need to protect her

family, Kaeri prevailed upon Muhoshin to take her to Nerima - and off

they went.

And now...

Thursday was pork bun day at Furinkan, and in a town where martial

artists would start a blood feud over specialty pastries, the school

cafeteria was not a safe place to buy one's lunch.

Not that you could actually BUY it, of course.

Yes, for the first few buns it was possible to shell out a few yen

(if Nabiki's latest scheme hadn't wiped you out) and obtain a somewhat

satisfying meal, but they didn't count. Only the last one did, and it

wasn't for sale. It was up for _grabs_. The scramble for the final

delicacy rivaled the mob at a European soccer game, or an American rock

concert. Sumo wrestlers, kendoists and obscenely ki-charged fighters

would defend their right to the last of the meat buns with unparalleled

tenacity.

Usually, Ranma won the unofficial contest, but he seemed to be busy

with other things today. To wit, a thing of more-than-average height and

beauty dressed in a tight-fitting girls' uniform. Such things were usual

for Nerima's Casanova, of course, but she was unique in Saotome's harem

in that Akane actively encouraged her presence in front of Ranma, who

looked somewhat resigned and discomfited at the same.

Both of these signs were encouraging to the male student population.

The new student, 'Miyabi', did not seem to be a serious romantic interest

of Ranma's and as such was instantly promoted to most eligible

bachelorette on campus. Pending further observation. Too many had

already suffered broken bones and worse from leaping to preliminary

conclusions in such matters.

When Ranma wasn't the victor in the Battle of the Bun, Ryouga was,

but he seemed to have gotten lost again.

Kunou had been staring blankly into space and babbling all day about

demonic gaijin succubi, so was presumably out for the count, and Ukyou

had absented herself from class.

As for the only other really viable candidate for the trophy...

Well...

Let's just say that Gosunkugi Hikaru was NOT having a good day.

And so it was that with a bit of luck and their natural talent for

fading into the background Hiroshi and Daisuke found themselves in the

unusual position of being the owners of a sweaty, crumpled package of

factory-made pork bun.

Before anyone could notice the miracle, they slinked away, leaving

the crowd to fumble for what they believed to be the bun, but was

actually the underwear of some unlucky fellow who'd been - *ahem* well,

you get the idea.

Hopefully, no one would try to eat it. A bit of stealth got them

safely to that bit of sunlit, martial-artist-free road just outside the

Furinkan gates, where they felt free to relax their tensed muscles - or

at least _one_ of them did.

"All right!" shouted Hiroshi, as he tore the white packaging of the

bread open and pulled out an oblong piece of cardboard. "A bonus Ryo-ohki

card! Hey, Daisuke, look at how-"

His straight-haired friend was too busy looking nervously around him

to hear his adulation of the prism card-and-sticker.

Hiro punched Daisuke lightly on the shoulder.

"What's wrong with you?"

"I... I don't know, man. Maybe we should just... Put the bun back."

"After we've opened it?"

"I mean, after what happened to Gos..."

Hikaru had been the original possessor of the pastry they now held,

but had been forced to give up his proprietary rights when he'd been

found unconscious, bruised, and with his limbs in a position that was

unnatural even for pretzels.

"What're you worried about? He probably just tried to eat Akane's

cooking, and the curry hit him back. Happens all the time."

"That's not what I hear." Daisuke looked Hiroshi in the eye. "I hear

Ryouga got 'im."

"Ryouga?" Curly hair bobbed up and down as the face below it

chuckled. "He's probably halfway to Madagascar by now."

"You know how he gets, even when Ranma's the one who wins... If he

found out about this..."

"He won't find out if we eat the evidence."

"I kind of like my bones the way they are."

"Hey, look. Do you want your half of the pork bun, or no-"

"Excuse me."

A voice from behind them.

Normally, the phrase 'Excuse me' would not sound very threatening,

but when the words were pronounced in a sepulchral voice and the kind of

deep baritone that could only be achieved by ki-enhanced male martial

artists, it was enough to send chills down the spine of any ordinary

Nerimite.

Hiroshi stuffed the bread down his sleeve and slowly turned around.

Daisuke just stared.

In front of them was a young man standing about six feet tall, with

black hair, brown eyes, a red bandanna and an evil look. He wore

Ryouga's clothes, and he was glowing gray.

"Can you tell me the way to Furinkan High?"

"Oh, man, not AGAIN..."

That was enough for Daisuke. ONE lost, super-powered Hibiki was clear

and present danger, but TWO...

He did the reasonable thing, and ran away.

Hiroshi tried to follow, but the newcomer grabbed him by the collar

and lifted him a foot in the air.

"Hey, let me GO!"

The pork bun dropped to the floor.

"Where," growled the warrior, looking straight into the schoolboy's

pupils, "is Furinkan High?!"

Hiroshi pointed at the large sign on the wall behind them, which

read, appropriately enough, 'Furinkan High School'.

The black-haired boy blinked.

Then, he laughed.

"I made it!" he shouted. "After bombs, and storms, and seas, jungles

and deserts... I'm actually back! But... but Perdita..." His ki-glow

turned a shade darker. "Ranma! You'll pay for this! This I vow! AGAIN!

OhOhOhOhOhOhOhOHOHOHOHoHoHoHoHOhOhOHOhOh!"

"What are you?" Hiroshi wondered aloud. "Some kind of freak?"

The other seemed amused at this. He smiled and answered-

"I'm the bat-man."

With that, he dropped the boy and ran through the school gates,

emitting noises to rival Kodachi's cackling. And why not? He seemed just

as insane.

Hiroshi sighed. Another day, another wacky villain.

With a bit of grumbling, he picked up the bun and card, brushing the

dust off of them.

After all he'd gone through, he might as well finish his lunch.

Nabiki Tendo had her life fairly well planned out. Her plan involved

corporate boardrooms, political affiliations, economic mastery, and lots

and lots of money. More recently, it had involved finding out more about

the future via a exploitable Hibiki. And very recently, it involved

taking a walk with her new 'friend'.

But she had underestimated the Hibiki ability to get lost, it seemed.

Because while she didn't recognize the dirt road she was walking down,

she had an unpleasant feeling it wasn't in Nerima.

Nabiki was discovering the Four Laws Of Traveling With Hibikis.

Number One: Don't.

Number Two: If you must ignore rule One, never let them lead.

Number Three: If you ignore One and Two, for God's sake keep a close

eye on the passing scenery.

Nabiki looked around for Ratiko, and discovered Number Four: If

you're foolish enough to ignore all of the other rules, never, ever under

any circumstances take your eyes off the Hibiki in question. Because if

you do, they'll wander off without you.

Right, she thought. No problem. Ratty could take care of himself;

didn't Ryouga always manage to find his way back to the Dojo? She'd just

catch a bus or a subway back home.

Just as soon as she found one.

"Now where the hell am I?" she wondered out loud. No-one answered

her, which wasn't terribly odd considering she was alone on the road.

Nothing to do but keep walking, she supposed. Whistling, Nabiki began

to stride purposefully down the dusty trail.

Half an hour later she wasn't whistling, and her stride had changed

into a trudge. That idiot had managed to strand her in the most backwards

area around Tokyo, she just knew it.

And then she found the sign.

/ ADDIS ABABA - 23 KM /

Nabiki had a mind like a spreadsheet, and this is what it returned.

1\. That is not a Japanese name.

1A. Posit: This is not Japan?

2\. I know that name.

2A. Ask memory where the name has been heard.

3\. Reiraku is going to PAY for this.

4\. Memory heard it in Geography class.

4A. It is the capital of Ethiopia.

4B. I am 23 Kilometers outside of the capital of Ethiopia.

5\. That's ridiculous.

5A. Hibiki, remember?

6\. I am 23 Kilometers outside of the capital of Ethiopia.

6A. You said that already.

7\. Reiraku is going to REALLY PAY for this.

Scowling, Nabiki Tendo trudged on.

A ring of cerulean fire spun itself through the air, and Ryo Saotome

stepped into another world. Then he fell, since he hadn't quite mastered

the art of walking on air yet.

He opened his mouth to shout something slightly obscene and rather

self-depreciating, but the air was ripped out of his lungs before he

could say anything. Being caught in a twister and then spat out by it

will do that to you.

The spinning had made him dizzy, and his concentration was broken. He

wanted to think, "Locket, take me away to a nice, safe universe where I

can get my bearings," but the best he could do was "Falling: Bad."

Since Ryo realized he was falling, Gravity had to pay attention to

him. Fortunately, someone down below wasn't, and that someone was kind

enough to stand still and let Ryo fall on top of him. That broke Ryo's

fall. It also broke the stranger.

A super-deformed version of Childra ran up to Ryo. "Oh, you've saved

us from the Wicked Warlock," she said.

A super-deformed version of Ishido joined her. "He was such a wicked

Warlock, too."

Soon a crowd of super-deformed Nerimites surrounded the pig-tailed

boy, all of them saying, "He saved us from the Wicked Warlock," or some

variation thereof.

"All I did was fall," Ryo said. "I don't even know who I landed on."

He slowly picked himself up, then looked at the body. "Muhoshin! I- I

killed him!"

"That's what we've been saying," the Nerimites chorused. Then they

began to sing. Music swirled out of nowhere to match their impromptu

verses.

Ding, dong, Muhoshin's dead

A boy well-bred

Fell on his head

Ding dong, the wicked warlock's dead!

Ding, dong, he broke his back

And won't be back

(Who wrote this hack?)

Ding, dong, let's give his corpse a whack!

"I- I didn't mean to kill him," Ryo stammered. "I mean, I know he

was a psychopath, and he deserved... but I didn't mean to..."

Shock cleared Ryo's mind, then hit him again a second time. He

realized that the locket hung around his neck was cold and silver, not

flickering with azure flame. That meant that the other locket, the older

one, wasn't around. And that meant that this Ryo Muhoshin wasn't _his_

Ryo Muhoshin. And that meant...

"Oh, my god." Ryo fell to his knees.

A glowing bubble of golden light slowly floated down out of the sky.

The Nerimites reverently cleared a space for it to land near Ryo. He

looked up in time to see it pop, and to see the dark-haired girl who

stepped lightly onto the ground beside him.

"Oh, Miyabi, it's you," Ryo said glumly.

The Nerimites gasped at his familiarity with the enchantress. "I see

you know me." She frowned a bit, and sounded stern. "I don't know you,

and that's why I have come." Her voice took on a more aristocratic tone,

as if she was speaking for a hidden recorder. "I am Miyabi, the Good

Witch, and I must know: are you a Good Warlock, or a Bad Warlock?"

"Am I a _what?_"

Ryo could hear the patience leave Miyabi's voice. "I said: Are you a

Good Warlock, or a Bad Warlock?"

"Well, I'm not a very good magician, and I just killed a man. What do

you think?"

The Nerimites let out a collective gasp, and then began to run away.

A super-deformed Ratiko ran right into a super-deformed Kunou, causing

more confusion and delay.

"If you are a Bad Warlock," Miyabi declared angrily, "then I must ask

you to leave."

Ryo threw his hands in the air. "Fine! I just want to go home, If I

deserve to, that is."

"Go home?" Miyabi sounded confused. "All you need to do is take the

umbrella next to you and tap it against the ground three times, saying-"

"I've got a better idea," Ryo interrupted. He grabbed the locket

with a white-knuckled grip, and Cerulean fire carried him away.

Reiraku ran gleefully through the endless corridors of Furinkan High.

He was lost again, but he didn't mind. So long as he made sure that the

walls continued to be whitewashed and the floors continued to be cheaply

tiled, he'd be just fine...

You see, in this case, the destination was well worth the journey.

Somewhere in this maze, the Obstacle awaited, sitting placidly in a

classroom, taking notes perhaps (or not, considering who he was),

completely unaware of the bandanna'd judgment that now sped his way.

That boy had sent him through many types of hell; thanks to him, he'd

been tortured and transmuted more times than hundred-year-old Plutonium,

almost eaten, subjected to ancient curses, plunged into the violent past

of war-torn lands, and to crown the degradation, everything he cared for,

everyone he'd YEARNED for had been lost to the jock.

At long last, he would be able to _destroy_ his opponent. Normally,

there'd be a few minor quibbles to prevent him. A few millennia of

social and moral qualms here, some measly law against murder there...

[Turn left or right?] Rat had come to a turning point, activating the

navigational sections of his brain. They read the sign at the end of the

hall:

[=== Classrooms | Principal's Office ===]

*Right* answered his mental compass.

Reiraku nodded, thanked his frontal lobe for the information and

turned right.

Somewhere in the vicinity of the hypothalamus, a playful neuron

giggled.

[Now where was I?] The boy's brow furrowed for a moment. [Oh, yes!

Reasons why I shouldn't kill Ranma!]

Yes, a few trifles stopped him in his time and place, but in this

case, in this past, they were all null and void.

There wouldn't be any guilt attached, either.

Oh no, no guilt. In fact, he'd ENJOY the feel of the little roach's

burnt flesh in his arms... If he felt particularly kinky, he might even

take Shampoo's advice and eat a little of the charred meat. It'd only be

poetic justice.

What harm was there in it? An innocent little killing, that was all.

And it wasn't REALLY a killing, not in the prosecutable sense of the

word.

After all, Ranma was _meant_ to die; if anything, Rat was only

correcting one of history's inexplicable gaffes. One couldn't murder the

dead, or be legally killed by someone who hadn't been born yet -

especially if said person couldn't be born unless the victim was dead,

proving that the victim had been dead before he died. It was the perfect

crime.

Not to mention the fact that it had to rank among the most satisfying

revenges in recent history.

In his own time, Ranma shared what little substance he had with a

girl more pretty than plain. He was unharmable. But _here_... Here he

could, and SHOULD be maimed, maltreated, burnt to a cinder with the very

ki-blast that his appearance in Reiraku's life had caused to surface...

[Reiraku...]

His goal had changed, and the significance of his name. Once, he'd

wished to do to Perdita what Ranma did to HIM, to make her life a living

Hell - but now he knew her, and he wished to ELEVATE, not lower her.

He was now SAOTOME'S downfall.

[A curse upon you, Ranma! My loss of Perdita is your Perdition.]

A tear ran down Rat's cheek as he remembered how he'd been forced to

leave poor, innocent Nabiki.

Saotome had toyed with his life and that of his ancestors for far too

long. As soon as Rat found him (and he WOULD find him, if he had to

spend years searching this public-educational labyrinth) his malignant

machinations would be cut short.

"Aloha and greetings, my long-haired friend!" blared a voice behind

him, apparently in English.

Reiraku stopped in his tracks and turned around, to be confronted by

a six-foot reject for a TropiKunou Cruise Lines ad.

Ratiko gulped and pressed his back against the wall in a futile

attempt to pass through it.

Principal Kunou grinned.

[It's really too bad,] thought Reiraku bitterly as the silver shears

approached his neck, [that my ki attacks aren't charged by FRIGHT.]

Nabiki hated Ethiopia with a passion.

It wasn't so much the flies, the hordes of impoverished children, the

filth, and the armed bands of soldiers. It was the utter lack of money

that pervaded every aspect of the city.

It had taken her hours to find a postal station with a long- distance

phone, almost as long to make the official on duty understand what she

wanted, and all her money to purchase time on it. Brushing a insect off

her forehead, she dialed the number that would get her home.

"* Good evening. Thy call has reached the House of Kunou. At present,

you address Takewaki Kunou, the Blue Thund-"

"Yeah, Kunou-baby, I know. Look, I need a favor."

"* Oh? How may I help my mistress of yen?"

The insect found a new perch on her neck, and she swatted at it

absently. "I'm stuck in Ethiopia, and I need a plane home."

"* You require directions to the airport?"

"I require you to charter me a plane, Kunou-baby"

"*Ah, I understand. No."

"Thanks, Kun- What? What do you mean, NO?"

"* I do not feel that this would be a wise course at this time."

"But...but...!"

"* Besides, I despise being called 'Kunou-baby'. As you well know.

Good day."

"Kunou, don't you dare hang up...Kunou? Kunou!"

In the post office depot, the mailmen calmly watched.

[Who's the Asian chick, Aman?]

[The one smashing the phone with the mallet?]

[That's the one.]

[I don't know. Seems upset, though.]

[Cute, though.]

[Oh, very definitely so. Allah, here she comes!]

"Any of you gentlemen have a phrasebook?"

[What did she say?]

[She asked me for a date.]

"Hello? Speak Japanese?"

[She says I am the most virile man she has ever seen.]

[You lie!]

"Speak Engrish, prease?"

"Sure do."

"You got phrasebooku?"

The insect settled down happily in the small of Nabiki's back, and

began to chew.

"So you also just transferred here, hm?" Miyabi asked a brown-haired

girl in front of her, while munching on the last orange from her lunch

bag. It was the tail end of the meal hour, and since she couldn't do

anything about Mum and Dad while waiting for class to start, she decided

to strike up a conversation.

"Yes," answered her companion. "I just transferred here a few days

ago. My name's... Miki."

"Miyabi." Ranma's daughter was glad that the other had taken the

initiative in not giving her family name. She's run into enough problems

with that today, already.

The girls exchanged smiles.

"So, why'd you move, Miki?"

"It was a... family decision."

"What kind?"

"My parents decided that they needed a larger house, and since

property in Nerima is cheap..."

[And expendable,] noted Miyabi, remembering a few instances of

gratuitous property damage.

"I see..."

"Why did YOU come here, Miyabi?"

The girl growled.

"It wasn't _my_ choice, I'll tell you. If it were up to me, I'd have

stayed back home, but my pervert of a half-brother dragged me here."

Well... it was ALMOST true.

Miki's eyes widened.

"You also have a step-brother?"

"Um... yes... but I'm not exactly proud of him. He spends most of

his time passing out in gutters and feeling up young girls."

"Did you use to live in Tomobiki?"

Miyabi blinked.

"No. Why?"

"Just wondering." She giggled. "My brother's very different. His

problem is that he pays too LITTLE attention to women. Sometimes, I

wonder if they matter at ALL to him..."

"You mean he..." Miyabi lowered her half-orange.

"NO!" The other girl flushed. "He's not interested in BOYS, either!"

"Sorry... I thought..."

"I just wish that... that..." A sigh. "He's cute, and nice when he

wants to be, but he's infuriating most of the time, and-"

"What's that you're holding?"

Miyabi pointed at a small robot which Miki was toying with, more to

change the conversation than out of genuine curiosity. She'd had her

share of passionate perversions on her little 'trip', and she didn't like

the dreamy look that her companion took on whenever she spoke about her

sibling.

"This? It's my diary!"

"Diary?"

Miki nodded.

"Want to see?"

She pressed a button on the robot -

/Even a hot and spicy girl like you can catch cold without a shirt

on, Miki-chan./

-and promptly regretted doing so.

"Your brother?"

"I... It's not what it sounds like. I don't know _how_ that got on

there. Honest!"

"Mm-hm," said Miyabi, sucking a bit more juice from the orange pulp.

"Really!" Miki's mouth was pressed into a tight line, her eyes were

wide open and twitching slightly, and her cheeks were redder than

Ryouga's nosebleed. "Back at the other school, I'd write into my diary,

say something into the robot, and give it to a friend of mine. She'd do

the same thing and give it back to me the next day."

Miyabi blinked.

"A shared diary? And recordings?" [Oooooooooooookay...] Not that she

should be surprised. After all, she'd seen more than her share of

weirdos since her arrival in the past. "Isn't that kind of... dangerous,

though? If someone hears what they're not supposed to..." None of

Miyabi's friends would ever catch a glimpse of HER diary entries. A few

had tried, but the hospital bills had let them know that it was a costly

(and futile) effort. Akane's daughter scowled as she realized that by

this time, in her own time, her younger brother was probably having the

time of his life reading through her most private thoughts.

He'd pay for that, when she got back.

In any case, the comment seemed to have softened Miki. She giggled,

relaxed, and proceeded to tell tales of times when tape-recorded

titillations had resulted in situations of traumatic romantic tension.

Somehow, it'd never occurred to her to scrap the toy and save herself all

the grief.

[Then again...]

Wheels turned in Miyabi's head. Someone else's grief might very well

prove her parents' happiness. All of the trouble she'd heard of from

Miki happened when people accidentally revealed how they really felt

about someone. Now, if she could get either Mum or Dad on tape at the

appropriate moment...

"Miyabi?"

"Yes?"

"You just swallowed a very large chunk of orange peel."

"What? Argh! *PTUI!*"

The peel sped from her mouth just in time to be swatted aside as the

door to the classroom swung open. Twenty-some-odd students instantly

stood up as a little girl dressed in a yellow skirt and jacket ensemble

entered the room.

"Good morning, Miss Hinako," they chorused.

He'd killed Ryo Muhoshin.

A version of him, anyway.

Well, it had been an accident, but the guy was still dead. If he

hadn't been chasing around the multiverse like some avenging spirit of

the night, then that world's version of Ryo Muhoshin would still be

alive.

The fact that the diminutive natives of the world seemed happy at

Muhoshin's death didn't help matters. Ryo knew he had to play judge,

because there was no one else who could handle the responsibility, and he

was willing to be jury, because no one else wanted the job, but

executioner was another thing altogether.

So Ryo sat and moped. He'd been doing a lot of that lately.

[I picked a strange enough spot for it,] he decided.

Trees blocked out most of the sky, cloaking him in shadows that

suited his mood. The trees were mostly bare of leaves, except at the

highest reaches of their branches, where they formed a tight canopy that

hid him from the sun. Mushrooms grew in that darkness; tall skinny ones

that reached up like sunflowers, and short squat ones, sturdy like old

stumps. He sat on one of those now, letting his feet dangle.

Occasionally he would halfheartedly kick at the grass, wondering again

how it could grow so tall without any light, and why it was such a

bright, vibrant shade of green.

[I killed a man].

The adventure in time just kept getting worse and worse. Lying and

fighting led to more fighting and more lying, and his companions through

the worlds became less and less trustworthy. Thefts and betrayals were

becoming more and more commonplace.

Then there was the incident with Happosai's book...

No, it was more than that. An incident was something that just

happened. Ryo had set out purposefully to use any magic he could find to

solve his problems. And in the end he'd just made them worse.

[What's more, I can't just promise never to do it again. I've

promised myself 'just one more' so many times that I can't keep track.

And each time I break my word to myself.]

The pig-tailed boy shook his head. [I've even had this conversation

with myself before. And I just go on to do something worse.]

"Yes, you are certainly a loser."

Ryo's head snapped up. "Who said that?"

"I did."

"Muhoshin?" Ryo was on his feet, hands clenched into fists. "Show

yourself."

"No."

Ryo spun himself in a circle, but he still saw nothing. "I'm warning

you! You're coming with me."

He swore he could hear a yawn. "Since when does a cat ever go

anywhere it doesn't want to?"

[Cat?]

"What sort of sick game are you playing?"

"If you don't calm down, I'm going to get bored and go away. And

then who will you have to talk to?"

"I don't want to talk to you. I want to throw you in a

straightjacket and haul you back to whatever hell you came from."

The voice sounded offended. "There's no need to be insulting. Hell,

indeed."

Ryo took a deep breath. He noticed the locket wasn't glowing, so

this wasn't _his_ Ryo Muhoshin after all. In that case, the voice was

right, and anger wasn't going to solve anything. "I'm sorry."

There was no answer.

"Hello?"

Silence.

"Damn you, Muhoshin, stop playing games!"

"I said enough with the insults. I don't know who started that

stupid rumor, but cats are _not_ demons. If you weren't just a human, I

would have to get angry. As it is, I'm mildly annoyed."

"I'm sorry."

"Are you? You say that a lot, and then you go on to do worse

things."

"I know."

"Yes, you were just thinking that, weren't you."

"You- you can read my thoughts?"

The voice sounded exasperated. "Of course I can. You're just a

human. It's not like you had any really profound insight, after all.

Here's an example. Now, you're insulted. You can't stand not being the

best, and being shown up by a mere cat - mere indeed! is driving you

insane."

Ryo closed his eyes. "I know I'm not the best at everything. I'm not

the fighter my father is, and I never will be."

"Oh, really?" Sarcasm dripped from the voice. Ryo could feel it; in

this world, such things were more real. "Didn't you once say nothing

your father had ever done equaled the scope of this adventure? And who

won the fight in the Nekohanten? It wasn't Ranma, for all his power, and

it wasn't Cologne, for all her craftiness."

"That's not the same thing."

"Don't be patronizing. I know that's not true. You know that's not

true. You know that I know that you know that's not true. And you're

starting to bore me again."

"I can't help it if you're bored. It's my life. I don't expect it

to entertain other people."

"Entertaining people is the only reason you exist."

"I'd like to think there was more to it than that."

"When you were younger you also wanted to think that if you flapped

your arms fast enough you could fly. That didn't make it true."

"Not yet." Ryo jumped up, landing on a low, bare branch of a nearby

tree. "I'm getting closer."

He felt the voice scramble away. "So you've learned to be a bird."

In a more menacing tone the voice added, "Cats eat birds."

"Curiosity kills cats."

"So you claim to be curiosity now?"

"It explains how I've gotten to be where I am now."

"So you curiously wondered yourself into a tree?"

"I jumped to _your_ tree, because I tricked you into talking long

enough to find you by your voice."

"And you think I didn't know that?"

"If you did, you would have moved to another branch before I landed,

instead of after."

"What, and ruin your sense of accomplishment?"

Ryo shrugged. "If you say so."

"Cats don't like being mocked."

"Neither do humans."

"Oh, really? Then why do so many humans keep cats around?"

"Because they don't stop to listen to what the cats are saying."

"_I_ had to get _your_ attention." The voice was smug.

"But I was still listening."

"Now you're talking back. That's not the same thing."

"You don't have anything else to tell me."

The voice laughed. "Is that so?"

"Yes." Ryo leaned back on his branch and crossed his hands behind

his head. "At this point, you haven't told me anything that I didn't

already know myself. For all I know, you could be a figment of my

imagination."

"In your mortal enemy's voice? You imagine nightmares, then."

"But Ryo Muhoshin isn't my mortal enemy. I thought we'd decided

that."

"So who is?"

"Ryo Saotome."

"You're learning."

"Yes." Ryo leaned forward, causing the branch to rock a bit. "And

now I need to fight him."

"If that's the case, why didn't you wish yourself into another world,

where the villain wears your face? You could have a slam-bang action

adventure, like the two-dee movies you're always watching."

"I don't need to. My father's most important lesson was to never

give up. I've made myself promise after promise, and I angst over every

one I break. This ends now. I won't break another promise to myself."

"Your father broke promises. He gave up."

"Yes." Ryo leaned forward. "And I've always wondered about that.

He was happy with Mother, but he didn't seem to have much... drive.

Seeing younger versions of him has given me the answer to that riddle.

He lost, and much as it pains me to admit it, that broke him."

"And..."

"Playing the questioner now, are we? Very well. Somewhere, there is

a real Ranma Saotome, and the others are reflections of him. My father

is a paler reflection, and I'm just starting to see that."

"It sounds like someone has been reading too much Zelazny."

"What?" Ryo paused for a moment, almost falling out of the tree.

"You gave something away there. You're not just a figment of my

imagination."

"I never claimed I was."

"Now I've lost my train of thought."

"What a pity." The voice yawned. "It wasn't very original."

"Give me a break. I'm new to the wizard business."

"Wizard business?" The voice edged back a bit. "You skim through

one grimoire and you call yourself a wizard? You flatter yourself."

Ryo shrugged. "You have to start somewhere. And the last Miyabi I

saw helped put the pieces together. She asked if I was a good warlock or

a bad warlock. I was hung up on the warlock part, when the real question

was about my ethics."

"For the sake of argument, lets say you are a wizard. What makes you

think you're a good wizard?"

Ryo smiled widely. "I never claimed I was."

"I told you I didn't like to be mocked."

"Wizards are allowed to mock cats. It helps balance out all the cats

mocking the other humans."

"What ever gave you that idea?"

"Two things can motivate a wizard to his study. One is a desire for

power."

"Pin-pon, pin-pon."

Ryo picked the locket up off his chest. "I didn't make this for

kicks," he said as he studied his craftsmanship. "And needing the

ability to travel through time to set things right is not the same as a

lust for raw power."

"If you say so." The voice seemed unconvinced.

"It was destiny."

"If you say so."

Ryo took off his jacket. "Well, I did make the thing because I knew

I made the thing. If a causal time loop isn't destiny, I don't know what

is. Besides, that leads us into the other reason wizards study."

"And that is?"

Ryo jumped to another tree, swinging his jacket like a net.

"Curiosity." He felt something struggle underneath the cloth, but he

held on. "I told you it kills cats."

"Let me GO!" the voice screamed.

"Wizards need familiars. You'll do." He tied the arms of the jacket

together, making a rough sack.

"I'm not that good," the voice whined. "You said you didn't need me

any more."

Ryo sat quietly for a minute. "You're right," he decided at last.

"I did say that. But talking with you has been enlightening."

"That's because you finally bothered to listen."

"So I'd better learn to do it more often." He untied his jacket.

"All right, Muhoshin Cat, you can go."

He felt the voice run. From the distance he heard, "No one has ever

named me before,"

"That'll teach you to borrow someone else's voice, then."

"Do you even know what you've done?" the voice called softly.

"I'm starting to figure it out." Ryo tugged his jacket back on, then

reached for the locket. "I'm not sure we'll ever meet again, but I'm

sure I'll run into someone like you soon."

"Don't get too cocky."

Blue fire burst from the locket. "What do you mean?"

"You weren't wearing that jacket when you met Spring."

Blue fire carried Ryo away before he could ask another question.

"Oh, you are all such _good_ students!" A chibi Miss Hinako flapped

her arms cheerfully, and her students were worried. They'd done their

lessons well - FAR too well. No only had 'slipped' in almost an hour,

which meant that they were now _all_ at risk of being turned into a

living sheet of paper by their teacher's ki-drain attack. "Let's repeat

our lessons again, shall we?"

The class tensed. Here was the test she'd use to cream off her

victim. The male students, mind you, had mixed feelings. A drain meant

that the rest of the class was taught by a buxom woman with a voice that

you usually had to bay four ninety-five a minute to hear... BUT, whoever

was picked as the delinquent student always felt too ill to enjoy the

sight.

Normally, they'd have bribed someone beforehand to play the

sacrificial goat, but today the novelty of a beautiful (and apparently

available) transfer student made a sexy instructor redundant.

And so, they let the contest be legitimately decided.

[The lain in Spain faus mainly in the prain,] led Miss Hinako.

[The rain in Spain falls mainly on the plain,] the class chimed back.

[A cupu tea... cupu tea... cup of tea... cup of tea,] said the

teacher, after some slight trouble.

[A cup of tea,] answered the students.

This was Not Working, thought Miss Hinako to herself. She'd tried all

the tricks in the book, and STILL no delinquents or lazy students. What

to do? She had people to see, outfits to fit into, wolf-whistles to

attract...

A sudden glint came to her eye, simultaneous with the arrival of an

idea of her mind. She'd just have to create a situation where there

WOULD be a lazy student or a delinquent. Dozens of them. What did the

Americans call it again?

Oh, yes.

A Catch-22.

[Yew bloody arse hole,] said Miss Hinako, poker-faced.

The students blinked in unison, but said nothing.

[Yew bloody arse hole,] she repeated.

Still nothing.

"Uh, Hinako-sensei..."

"Yes, Hiroshi?"

"That wasn't in our textbook."

"Of course not, silly! These are extra advanced lessons."

"Oh."

More blank stares.

"Now, repeat after me," said the teacher, "or I'll have to assume

that you naughty, naughty kids don't want to study!"

The class paled.

[Shut up, ye wanker.]

The door slammed open, causing the walls of the room to shake.

"Ranma, now you-"

[Shut up, you wanker.]

Reiraku blinked. WHY did everyone in this school seem to know

ENGLISH?! Rat did not like English. In fact, ever since his recent

experiences in England, he'd grown to loathe it.

Good.

The anger he felt at hearing the language he despised only added to

his already-intensely-white ki flames, the flames that would cleanse the

world of his Rival...

"Ranma, prepare to die!"

There was little reaction from the students to this little outburst.

Sure, that was usually Ryouga's line, but hey, one black-haired

bandanna'd boy with a blood feud against Saotome was as good as another.

And besides, (and most students grinned as they realized this) this meant

that Miss Hinako had found-

"A delinquent!" More arm-flapping. "Ooooo, you baaaaaaaad boy! I'm

going to teach you a lesson!" She pulled out a coin, made a few gestures

with it and mumbled a few words.

"Happo five yen-satsu!"

Draining the aura of a normal person turned Miss Hinako into a buxom

beauty. Draining the battle aura of an enraged Hibiki who had been about

to fire a self-named, anger-based 'Star Explosion' ki blast...

Let's just say that no one present failed physiology that year.

Ukyou was, as Ranma noted, absent from school. At the moment she was

alone, in Ucchan's, with Ryouga. Were Miyabi aware of this, she'd be

happy.

Were she aware of what, exactly, they were talking about, she

wouldn't be happy.

"That girl's gonna ruin everything!" yelled Ukyou. "And worse yet,

your incompetent bungling isn't helping a bit!"

"Hey, wait, are you saying this is MY fault?!" countered Ryouga.

"For not being able to tell Akane how you feel? YES I AM!"

"I... I..." Ryouga's rage flickered out, replaced by the depression

that usually hung around him. "You're right." His shoulders slumped and

he gave a little sigh.

Ukyou patted him on the shoulder. "Hey, don't be so hard on

yourself. Now... what we need is a little organization. A plan. You

with me so far?"

Ryouga nodded.

"Thank goodness for small miracles," she mumbled under her breath.

"Hm?"

"Nothing. Okay... let's think..."

Rat licked the blood off his upper lip.

Salty.

It'd been half an hour since that 'transformation', and he STILL

hadn't been able to stop bleeding.

[It should,] he thought to himself, [be illegal to sell clothes that

tear so easily under a little pressure. Really.]

In a way, he was grateful for the buckets which he had to hold. They

kept him from floating away, and the pain in his upper arms directed his

attention away from the utter boredom of standing stationary in an empty

hall.

But apart from that one tiny silver lining, his day had just been one

huge, black storm cloud.

And what's worse, he forecasted rain.

/[Aloha, boys and girls!]/

Rat tensed. He KNEW that voice.

/[I have a special fun announcement for all you wacky kids.]/

Oh. Only the PA system. Reiraku breathed a sigh of relief.

/"All students are to attend a special seminar on pineapple carving

in the main auditorium."/

Rat smirked. Somehow, it _sounded_ like something that Principal

would come up with.

/"Now."/

A few groans from the classroom behind him, and the shuffling of

chairs.

/"All those who are late will have their hair confiscated at the

entrance."/

The door next to Reiraku swung open, making him fall over the buckets

and coating the entire hallway with cold water.

Well, maybe not the ENTIRE hallway. There was one little area where,

in the middle of a pile of clothes, steam rose around a rather

cute-looking bat who seemed, for some odd reason, to be glowing black.

*Squeak! Squeak! Squeak!*

*SMASH*

*CRUNCH*

*TRAMPLE*

*TAP*

Any complaints about the unfairness of the incident were effectively

quelled by the mass of students which was pouring out at high speed from

every door in the corridor.

Once the crowd had subsided, the bat sat up and tried to rub its head

with its wingtip. It quickly found that sharp claws weren't the best

thing in the world for easing a headache.

She waddled a few steps. If only she could find some hot-

A grayish blur zooming in-

"Mum, Dad?"

*STOMP*

-and over.

"Wait, Miyabi! I still haven't told you how Yuu and I-"

*SPLAT*

[So this,] thought Reiraku, [is what pain feels like.] The black

ki-flames around her grew, turning her tiny form into a living shadow.

At least one good thing would come out of this. The minute she found-

"Ranma! Hurry up!"

"I'm comin', Akane! I'm comin'!"

The bat's eyes glinted evilly. She concentrated on letting go of her

anger and instead focusing, as she'd been taught, on all the sadness, all

the grief, all the pain that Saotome had caused her...

[Ranma, when I am done with you I will personally see to it that your

burnt remains are fed to Akane as part of Furinkan's 'Mystery Meat'

dish!] she thought she heard herself say.

Unfortunately, since bats can't talk, it sounded more like

*Squeak! Squeak! Squeakety-squeak! Squeak! Squeak!*

"Say," said Akane, pausing for a while and pointing at Reiraku.

"Isn't that-"

[Shishi Ho-]

A flurry of arms burst into the hall, followed by a quick scan of the

hallway by that which was in between them.

Miss Hinako's eyes alighted on the bat.

"Happo-five-yen-satsu!"

As she fainted, the bat idly wondered whether the pool of blood from

her nosebleed would be warm enough to change her back.

It was a hot day in Addis Ababa, but then it had been a hot day in

Addis Ababa for the past fifteen years. People were as used to it as they

were ever going to get, which meant that only the less healthy ones

dropped dead of dehydration.

The Gerald Ford Cantina, named after it's most illustrious visitor,

had a ceiling fan. This meant that while it was only a few degrees cooler

inside, the air circulated nicely, giving the impression of a mild

breeze. Just enough to refresh, but not strong enough to blow the poker

cards out of their places.

"Two new," said Big Eddie Majabouti. He was rather disturbed by the

turn this game was taking, and wanted to hit someone to calm his nerves.

Instead, he reached for his cards and took another gulp of whiskey.

The rest of the players took their requested cards. A hetman of a

minor tribe, a trio of city rats, an Irish banjo player, an Asian girl,

and a Frenchman.

The cards he drew lessened his natural homicidal impulses, and more

whiskey made it's way down his throat. Four of a kind. Four of a kind. As

his friend would say, Oh My.

"223 Francs."

"See ya dat, sure, an raise ya 89, I will."

Two of the city trash folded. The Asian and the Hetman met and

raised. The Frenchman scowled and held.

Big Eddie's perpetual scowl stayed in place, but inside he was

gloating. He stood to win a good sum; the Hetman was holding the wealth

of his tribe, and Frenchy there had "Arms Dealer" written all over him in

big bold letters.

"See that, raise 355."

"Bloody 'ell. I fold, an a pox on ya."

"- - -"

Big Eddie scowled at the Hetman. "What'd he say?"

The arms dealer gave a magnificently Gallic shrug. "Eh, how should I

know? It is your nation, oui?"

"He said 'Throw the small cakes at the wildebeest' in Gamadaan,"

volunteered the city dweller.

"Was Conomol," the Asian girl said. "He say, 'The Toda people will

fold'. Then he tell you that you have small organs, and your mothers have

large ones."

Big Eddie thought about this for a second, and then punched the

Hetman in the temple.

"He's out."

"He certainly is," observed the Frenchman. "Raise you 123, eh?"

The Asian girl silently pushed a few bills into the pot.

Five very long minutes later, the pot contained a great deal of

money, and the others watched as the Asian, the arms dealer, and Big

Eddie Majabouti stared grimly at each other.

"Call, Frenchy."

Another shrug. "Full House."

Eddie favored him with a grin. "Four of a kind."

"Merde!"

"Four nines," commented the Asian.

"Nono," Eddie sneered. "I have four fives, girlie."

"Name is Tendo Nabiki, not girlie. And I mean that _I_ have four

nines."

Eddie looked at the cards.

Then he looked at the money.

Then he looked at the very breakable looking girl who was smirking at

him. Might have a little fun with the little bitch before I get rid of

her, he thought.

He wasn't sure exactly when she drew the pistol, but it stopped that

train of thought rather quickly.

Nabiki shoveled the cash into a sack, and, still keeping the pistol

trained on Big Eddie, left the cantina.

Behind her, the Hetman groaned and let go of the royal flush he had

been holding.

Nabiki didn't speak Conomol, you see.

Something had to be done.

Miyabi was currently watching for her parents from a bird's eye view

atop Furinkan High as they lingered around school grounds after hours.

Mother was in the courtyard talking with her two friends, while Father

was using the athletic equipment on campus to keep in shape.

She had been observing her parents through the school day, and their

relationship so far, in her opinion, was wildly underdeveloped. She

wasn't exactly sure, but if she remembered the stories her parents told

her about their youth, they really should have been more affectionate by

now.

The question of what, exactly, was to be done was not easy to answer.

Her earlier idea of hammering the idea of them together until they

surrendered was obviously flawed. It was exactly the same thing that her

grandfathers were doing, and she saw how badly that was backfiring.

A step at a time, perhaps? It was a little too slow for her tastes,

but at the moment she wanted any victory she could get.

It was a little idea, but it was an idea, and it was progress.

"After school? At Ucchan's?" Ranma thought about this for a moment,

then shrugged. "Um... sure. Why there, though?"

Miyabi failed to conceal a giddy smile. "I just always liked that

place." That was easy, she thought. But then again, this was Ranma and

food, so it was bound to be easy.

"Ucchan's? Why?" Akane's demeanor clearly showed a negative

disposition towards the okonomiyaki eatery.

"Well... I just like the place," offered Miyabi. She saw that this

clearly wasn't enough to pacify her mother. "Aaand... I just wanted to

get away from Grandfather Soun and Grandfather Genma for a while."

This seemed to agree with Akane's mindset. "Yes, they have been

acting ridiculous lately, haven't they?"

Miyabi nodded, perhaps a little too enthusiastically.

"Tell me, Miyabi-chan, do they get any better in the future?"

Miyabi grinned sheepishly. "Um... no, mum, not really."

Nearby, hidden in the bushes, Ratiko Hibiki grinned. At this point,

with the kind of day he had, he didn't care about chronological

correctness anymore, he just wanted to put Ranma through HELL.

The Saotome family... a nice meal at great-grandmother's... sounded

like a nice time.

No way he could allow that. Saotome was going down.

And who better to bring down that idiot jock than the great Tatewaki

Kunou?

He began walking there, then remembered that he was in she-bat form.

Flying, of course, was what he... she tried next.

Being a Hibiki, he... she flew onwards to the Kunou estate.

Being a Hibiki, that took several hours.

Blue fire flared about her, and she moved without motion,

Muhoshin-san next to her.

It was blessedly unlike the horrible, chaotic trip through the Nanban

Mirror. This was much better, much. Just clean, sterile, azure flame

filling the world.

And then it stopped, flickered, and she was looking at...

The walls - whitewashed, not blackened; standing, not ashes, of her

home.

Of daddyakanabikasu- Kaeri's home. Home.

"Home," she whispered, trying the word out. Behind her, Muhoshin

coughed nervously.

"Erm.. yes, well... I'd better be getting along... you'll be all

right here? You'll watch out?"

She nodded, then, on a sudden impulse, hugged him."You take care,

Muhoshin-san."

"Ah, hahah, yes, take care..."

She lightly kissed him on the cheek, stepped back, and watched at the

somewhat dazed-looking Ryo vanished in a ball of cerulean fire.

A stirring of regret moved through her, but then she turned her gaze

back to the Dojo. The standing dojo. The front steps were there, right

there, and all she had to do was walk up them and into the house...

She put a foot forward, then trembled and brought it back again. Did

she dare to touch _it_? It was so fragile... A single brush from her

might bring it toppling upon her, might sear it, scorch it, send it

crumbling. She was the present, and it was the past, and as the present

turned into the future...

She would _seize_ the memories; she would not let them be forgotten

and discarded.

Kaeri took a deep breath and let her staff rest against her shoulder

as she ran her fingers through her hair, carefully manipulating it to

hide the scar that ran diagonally across her forehead - she had to be

presentable, of course - and tightened buttons, smoothed out sleeves,

fluffed up ru-

She had to go.

She had to _know_, to _see_ if, if, if, if...

One foot.

Just one foot.

A little foot, a little step, a little time...

Time.

Step.

Time.

Now.

Before she could decide against it, she gripped her staff, planted it

into the ground, lifted her right knee from the ground, threw her weight

forward and let gravity slam her sole upon the first flagstone in an

irrevocable, irreparable action.

An arrow of mild pain shot briefly from her arch along her calf, but

when it disappeared, the stone was still there, and no worse for the

wear.

Kaeri's cheeks twitched in excitement, her eyes widened and her heart

sped as she noticed this. The stone was here, and it was less ephemeral

than the pain, less prone to dissolution. She could put her weight upon

it and the first step to the dojo's entry portal would not break not give

way not leave-

Licking her lips nervously, she put her other foot on the flagstone.

Nothing.

She felt like laughing, like letting her staff support her as her

body gave itself entirely to a merriment of fulfilled hope... But she

didn't. After all, it wouldn't be proper. Instead, she bounded to the

doorframe and put her arms around the rounded wood that was its outline.

A tear ran down her cheeks and then a stream, trickling downwards

along with the grain as she rubbed herself against the beam, caressing

it,stroking it...

She would never leave again, never allow thethethe... THAT to happen.

She wrapped her hands tightly around her shaft. She had to keep the

dojo clean; that was her task, and she would keep those dirty

beastkillmurdermustwipe men away, whatever it-

"Kasumi!"

That voice... A voice that she'd known eons past in a different

world called out to her by a forgotten name...

Not knowing what else to do, she answered. Kaeri straightened,

smoothed her dress and turned around.

She'd barely time to say "Oh, my!" before her father fainted.

Tomas Muhammed only came into the city once a year, to sell his cows.

He enjoyed it a great deal; the scents, the bazaar, the sounds, the city

women... The trip to the city was special, and this year he had brought

his son along.

"Father," asked Farka, a fine lad of 14, "Why are these people

singing? Are they happy?"

"No, my son. They are poor, and sing in the hopes that someone will

like their singing, and give them money."

Farka nodded solemnly. "I understand, father."

They strolled through the market, enjoying the day. Tomas had gotten

an excellent price on his bulls, and now came the agreeable process of

buying.

"Father?"

"Yes, son?"

"Look at that lady! Is she a spirit?"

The father followed his son's gaze, and blinked in surprise.

"No, son. She's... um... well, I'm not sure. I think she might be

some sort of outsider. She's sort of white."

"Look at her funny eyes! And what is she singing? Is she poor too?"

Tomas smiled. He didn't like not being able to answer his son's

questions about life, but he could answer this one.

"Ah, son, she is singing an old Bambara hunger song."

"Is she Bambara, Father?"

"No, son. But that's the language in the phrasebooks fat Aman sells

at the Postal Station."

They listened to the strange woman sing for a long time.

"Father?"

"Yes, son?"

"What do the words mean?"

Tomas scratched his side absently. "It is a very wise song, and it

goes thus:

o/~ Brothers and Sisters, I have no food

Brothers and Sisters, I have no money

Brothers and Sisters, I have no shoes

Brothers and Sisters, my feet are sore

Open your hearts, Hyi!

Open your pockets, Hyi!

Give in the sense of brotherhood and unity

Help your fellow man

Because we are all brothers and sisters

And because my people have many semiautomatic weapons

And are getting desperate o/~"

Father and son thought about this, and listened to the strange

looking, if rather attractive, lady.

"Father," Farka said firmly, "Let's give her money."

"All right, my son. But only a little."

*CHOP*CHOP*

*CHOP*CHOP*CHOP*

*SLICE*

Pause.

Concentrate.

*POKE*

*BOOM*

Kaeri smiled as she gleaned the bits of newly-shredded chicken from

their various landing sites.

That nice Mr. Muhoshin, she thought as she put away the ice pick, had

found such a _good_ way to tear chickens apart.

A pity it had to be so messy.

Once everything was clean and the meat was in a tidy pile, she went

on with her preparations. After all, dinner had to be ready for Ranma,

and Akane, and Nabiki, and Mr. Saotome, and, and, and...

And poor Daddy!

She'd carried him to the sofa (he mustn't have been eating well - he

seemed much lighter than he used to be) and put a cold cloth on his

forehead, just like she always did during one of his spells.

She hoped he'd wake before supper-time.

The cook wrapped a little bit of meat carefully in its pastry

blanket, as if it were a child. Soon, it would go into the pot, and

boilburndiedieblackfacesbonesblooddry.

Cook.

Go into the pot, and cook.

Not burn.

Just cook.

Kaeri only noticed her hyperventilation when she forced herself to

stop it. By then, the dumpling in question was nothing but a stack of

very neat, very fine slices.

But it wasn't ash.

And with the others she would _feed_ her family, make them grow, give

them strength, and Daddy would-

*CLICK*

"Father! I'm home!"

No.

Not her.

Not here.

Not yet.

Frowning slightly, Kaeri wiped the unused bits of ingredients off the

counter and into her hands, then sprinkled them into the dust-bin.

It wasn't right for both of them to be here.

She picked up her staff from where it leaned against the refrigerator

and pressed it between her breasts.

She'd le.. lea... leav...

Not for long.

She was... not abandoning the dojo.

Oh, no, never again.

She'd be back.

Kaeri slid out the back door just in time to hear Kasumi's startled

gasp and trademark phrase.

She'd be back.

Soon.

His amulet glowed brighter with each step. Ryo scanned through the

crowd nervously, knowing that the other was out there. Finally, he saw

him, sitting by the bar. He looked as if he was in a daze, his eyes

dulled and his posture slumped.

Muhoshin blinked, looked at his own flaring locket swinging from the

chain around his neck, then looked up.

"Oh. Hello," mumbled Muhoshin. "I've been waiting."

"Waiting?" asked Ryo. He was tense, waiting for Muhoshin to make his

move.

"Waiting, yes, waiting... you, me, we should talk. Sit?" Muhoshin

put the flaring locket underneath his shirt, ignoring the blue tongues of

flame lashing out.

"Doesn't that hurt?" asked Ryo.

"Hurt? What hurt?"

"You put the locket under your shirt when it was still..."

"Oh. That. Hurts. But I ignore it." Muhoshin shrugged and pressed

his hand over his chest. Saotome winced as he saw ghostly flames

illuminate Muhoshin's shirt briefly. "Before we talk," said Muhoshin,

"sit."

In a rush to get things wrapped up quickly, Ryo said, "please, if

you'll just give me back the locket we ca-"

"SIT." Muhoshin's dull expression was replaced suddenly by a

psychotic glare. "We sit and talk or _else_..."

Muhoshin's eyes calmly looked down to the floor, where his umbrella

was aimed down and almost touching the ground. Then he looked around at

the crowds all around them.

Saotome frowned. He knew what Muhoshin was hinting at. After all,

they both knew the technique, and he could see clearly that Muhoshin's

umbrella was a centimeter away from an incredibly potent breaking point.

"It's... somewhat crowded here, don't you think?" he asked. "Be a

shame if... say... there was an explosion or two, if you know what I

mean?"

"Alright, I'll sit," said Ryo, trying to calm the other down. "Now

wha-"

"Order something. The Thai Tea here is very good."

"But I tho-"

"ORDER SOMETHING."

Ryo waved over to the barkeep and ordered water.

"I've ordered my drink, okay? Now let's talk ab-"

"Good place, this," interrupted Muhoshin.

"Huh?"

"Haven't seen Ryouga all day. Erah, aHAHAHAHA... ah.. aHAH... ahem."

The two Ryos examined each other, Saotome with alert, open eyes, and

Muhoshin with slow, narrow eyed gazes.

"So, what are we going to do?" asked Saotome.

"Eh? What?" Muhoshin blinked. "Hm... well... good weather, nice

cafe, beautiful people all around us. I suppose we should talk. I

haven't a clue as to our topic, though."

"I think I know," said Saotome. "I think you do too. This

situation, the lockets, you, me. We need to talk."

"I suppose so," said Muhoshin. He stared sadly into his drink, as if

not quite pleased with the contents.

"I've been thinking about this, you and me," said Saotome. "About

what's going to happen to us in the end."

"I know," said Muhoshin. "I dream the future sometimes. It's

different every night. Sometimes I kill you. Sometimes you kill me. In

the far future, or perhaps yesterday."

Saotome nodded. "I... I just wanted to know that I'd made a genuine

attempt to talk things over and avoid that fate."

Muhoshin looked genuinely puzzled. "Oh?"

"It doesn't have to be this way," said Saotome. The bartender

brought Saotome's water him. He took a light sip, then put it aside.

There was a long silence.

The crowd chattered. The traffic outside flowed along slowly.

Somewhere in the restaurant, a waitress dropped a glass.

"It is that way," said Muhoshin quietly. He shrugged.

"No it isn't!" protested Saotome.

Muhoshin shook his head sadly. "Ever have just... a really bad day?"

"Yes, but I don't see what that has to do with anything."

"Never mind, never mind." Muhoshin finished the last of his drink

and put the empty glass on the table. "There's no turning back, even for

us."

"You're not giving me a chance-"

"Look at you," spat Muhoshin. "Everything about you reeks of

heroism, idealism, and the belief of the inherent goodness of Ryouga."

"What?" asked Saotome.

Muhoshin blinked. "Man. Inherent goodness of Man." He leaned

forward, his eyes narrowing further. "I have blood on my hands, so much

blood, but I don't have any regrets. Someone has to do this. If I

won't, who? It's far too late. Do you understand?"

"No, I don't," said Saotome.

Muhoshin smiled, although he certainly didn't seem happy.

"You will," said Muhoshin. "Before we're done, you'll have blood on

your hands. Mine, yours, maybe both."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" hissed Saotome.

Muhoshin ignored him and closed his eyes.

"Perhaps... we can end this," said Muhoshin, eyes still closed.

"How?" asked Saotome.

"Your locket. Give it to me."

"Why?" asked Saotome.

"I don't care what you do in your own little corner of the

realities," said Muhoshin. "Just stay out of my way, and I'll leave you

alone."

And leave Muhoshin free to murder across time and space? Not an

option in Saotome's mind.

"I can't do that."

"Oh well," said Muhoshin, "can't say I didn't try the... aheh... nice

way."

"Muhoshin, listen," said Saotome.

"I will," said Muhoshin, eyes still closed, "to the sound of

victims."

Saotome's eyes widened as he realized what Muhoshin was about to do.

He lunged forward, but wasn't fast enough.

Muhoshin's umbrella tapped the floor.

A violent blast shook the cafe to its foundations. With a sweep of

his hand, Muhoshin touched a cement pillar that was next to him, setting

it off in another violent explosion of choking dust and deadly shrapnel.

In Ryo Saotome's eyes, time slowed down. He saw it all in painful

detail. The waitress, face cut by the flying debris, falling backwards

and screaming. The bartender, absolutely confused, diving for cover.

The people everywhere, rising from their tables and taking that first

frantic step towards escape.

Ryo Muhoshin laughed at it all and disappeared as a section of

ceiling collapsed between them.

Saotome caught the waitress as she fell and raced for the door.

He almost made it.

"Hey, kid, you okay?"

"Mmm."

"Hey, wake up, c'mon."

Ryo Saotome opened his eyes slowly. The sound of sirens and people

barking orders frantically assaulted his ears. By his side, a medic was

looking his scratches over.

"What happened?" he asked.

"The cafe collapsed on you," said the medic. "How're you feeling?"

Ryo stood up slowly, despite the nagging aches he felt.

"Hey! Don't move! You might aggravate an injury!" protested the

medic.

Ryo ignored him and stared at the rubble instead. "How many people?"

"What?"

"How many people got hurt?" he asked again.

"Got about forty, including you, with moderate injuries, and five are

in critical condition."

Ryo clenched his fist. "Damn."

He checked his jacket, then pulled out the silver locket. It wasn't

glowing at all. Either Muhoshin ran far off, or he left this reality.

He had to be stopped, by any means necessary.

Muhoshin just confirmed his worst fears. He was beyond hope, beyond

remorse.

A killer.

"'Scuse me, gotta go."

"Hey! Yo-" The medic stopped protesting as Ryo hit a sleep pressure

point. Ryo caught him and laid him down.

"Sorry, I don't have time for this."

A few blocks away in an empty alley, Ryo pulled out the silver locket

and concentrated. A moment later, he was gone.

The final bell of the day rang, signaling the end of the day in

Nerima. The students were celebrating this fact in their usual manners,

be it a trip to the local hangouts, a friendly sports get-together, or

one of a hundred different other things.

One girl, in particular, was waiting for two other people to arrive.

Miyabi paced around nervously, repeating the plan in her mind. They

were going to go to Ucchan's, she'd _subtly_ get them to actually have a

good time together, and things would grow from that. Gotta take that

first small step before taking the big ones.

That is, if they didn't back out from fear.

Speaking of people backing out...

"Dad! Hey! Over here!"

Ranma winced and looked around, hoping that nobody noticed a girl was

calling him 'dad'. "Hey, not so loud!" he hissed.

"Why?" She pouted. "You're ashamed of me?"

"No! Nothing like that," replied Ranma quickly, hoping to avoid

making a scene. "It's just... you know... we're the same age, y'know?

And people'll look at us funny with you calling me dad, so just don't

yell it out like that, okay?"

"Oh!" Miyabi grinned sheepishly. "Sorry, forgot." Very carefully,

she reached into her pocket. There was a nearly inaudible 'click'.

"I still don't see why the kawaiikunee tomboy and me gotta go to

Ucchan's."

"Do you like my shirt, Dad?"

"Uh, yeah, Miyabi, your shirt looks real nice." He sighed and looked

around, as if expecting something. "Where the heck is that tomboy?"

"Anxious to get out of here?" asked Miyabi. "It's not like we're

late or anything."

"Yeah, well, we'd better take off before Kunou gets here."

"You aren't afraid of him, are you, Dad?"

Ranma smirked. "Kunou? Hell no! But the jerk's always trying to do

something hentai. He just won't take a hint."

"Oh hey, there's mum. Mum! Hey! Over here!"

Akane cringed.

Classes in Furinkan were over for the day.

Only two types of students weren't happy at this point.

One was the hapless students that were stuck in detention.

The other being the two Furinkan Students that stayed in Ucchan's all

day.

Why?

"We don't have a plan!" yelled Ukyou. "Ranchan's heading home with

Akane and we still don't have a plan!" Ryouga, who was never a great

schemer to begin with, could only sit there and mull while Ukyou paced

around anxiously.

She really didn't like the way he was sitting there in non-activity.

"Don't just sit there, think of a plan!"

"I know, I know! I'm trying to think but nothing's happening!"

"How very surprising," remarked Ukyou dryly.

Ryouga frowned. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing, nothing, forget it."

"Hey, you're calling me slow, aren't you?"

Ukyou sighed and rolled her eyes up. "No, I'm not."

This seemed to placate Ryouga enough. "Oh, okay."

Need a plan need a plan need a plan...

Ryouga spoke up first, much to Ukyou's surprise. "Okay, let's start

from the top."

"The top?" Ukyou's brow crinkled as she stared at Ryouga, who was

now on his feet and began to pace around. This new, active, planning

Ryouga took Ukyou entirely off guard.

"One," he said, raising one finger, "You like Ranma."

The illusion of a cunning and intelligent Ryouga was immediately

shattered.

"Um, yeah," said Ukyou flatly.

"Two," continued Ryouga, "I l... l... I like Akane."

Ukyou frowned. "You love Akane."

"I... I love..."

Ukyou glared at Ryouga. "Jeez, you can't even say it."

"Yes I can!" said a miffed Ryouga.

"Whatever. You don't have to try now."

"I... I love-"

"Sooooooo, this is where you two have been," said an all too familiar

young man's voice. "I was wonderin' why the both of you skipped school."

Ukyou winced. Ryouga winced. How, she wondered HOW could it be that

such a stupid accident happen TWICE? It wasn't fair.

"Um, aheh, hi guys!" said Ukyou, trying to look happy.

"A-A-Akane!" Ryouga fumbled a bit, nearly knocking over a nearby

table, then smiled nervously and laughed a bit. "W-what're you doing

here?"

From Ukyou's perspective, the gathering at Ucchan's was going well.

It was going _too_ well.

Ukyou was observing how things were progressing, and they were

progressing very badly. Oh, it wasn't depressing on anyone's part. They

all talked about school, traded a few funny little personal anecdotes,

and generally had a good time.

Ranma was smiling.

Akane was smiling.

Occasionally, they were smiling at each other.

This was WRONG.

Ukyou had this really weird feeing that they were all being watched,

but didn't have time for an additional aggravation. There were enough

problems at the moment.

Ryouga was no help. He turned to jello every time Akane smiled

anywhere near his general direction.

The worst part was, she couldn't think of a subtle way to nudge the

conversation towards pairing up Akane with Ryouga and her with Ranma.

The non-subtle ideas were worthy of Kodachi or Shampoo and involved a

lot of glomping and attempted kisses. Ukyou was tremendously embarrassed

to have those thoughts to begin with. She COULD be more violent about

it, as Shampoo and Kodachi were, but that wasn't her style.

No options.

Damn.

"... and so Hiroshi said, "what stick?" Get it?" Ranma laughed at

his own joke, along with Akane, Miyabi, and Ryouga. It only served to

bring Ukyou out of her reverie.

She wished that someone would break up this happy-fest before she

puked.

"RANMA!"

Oooh, waitasec, she knew that voice.

"Shampoo hear you take Akane on date!" said the Amazon angrily, "You

no fool around with other women!"

Ukyou allowed herself a crooked, tired smile. Shampoo, the manic

Amazon. That oughta break up this happy atmosphere.

She looked at Akane and Ranma and that thought was quickly crushed.

It seemed he had one arm almost around her, as if protectively, and she

was leaning slightly towards him.

She briefly wondered if now would be the time to get violent.

"Ohohoho! Ranma darling, there you..."

Ah. Kodachi. That would be violent enough.

"Ohohoho! Ranma darling, there you... you... oh my."

The Black Rose was currently seeing red. Very red.

When last Kodachi saw Ranma, he was under the spell of that evil

harlot, the pig-tailed girl, forced to be in the form of an inferior man.

The only way to for Ranma to return to his gallant, handsome,

irresistible

form once more was to.. well...

The thought made Kodachi blush so, and send an electric shiver

through her body as well. It was a shame to lose her virtue before the

wedding night, but she would gladly sacrifice her body to her dear Ranma.

Except it seemed that Ranma was once again his normal, dashing self,

which was good.

But why was he sitting next to that harridan Akane with his arm

nearly around her unless oh no no no she DIDN'T Akane Tendo COULDN'T

POSSIBLY HAVE no no no this can't be happening SOMEONE IS GOING TO HAVE

TO DIE!

"Akane Tendo, how DARE YOU sleep with MY RANMA!"

There was this loud, thundering, heart-stopping sort of utter

silence.

Ukyou stared at Ranma. Ryouga stared at Akane. Shampoo stared at

Ranma and nearly dropped a bonbori. Kodachi was turning a particularly

angry shade of red.

Miyabi's next statement didn't exactly help with the situation.

"You two shouldn't- I mean- It's too- I'm not supposed to be born yet

and you might-!"

"Waitaminute! Me an'the tomboy didn't do nothing!" protested Ranma.

"I didn't do anything with this jerk!" yelled Akane.

Of course, nobody believed them.

"HOW DARE YOU GET AKANE PREGNANT, YOU JERK!" Ryouga grabbed Ranma by

the shirt and shook him violently. "I'LL KILL YOU!"

Ukyou's killer spatula sliced down and forced Ryouga to dodge back,

releasing Ranma. "Don't you hurt him!" snarled Ukyou. She turned to

Ranma with a really odd looking sort of smile that was as close to

friendly as the stars were close to the ocean. "I'm gonna hurt him!"

"Akane I KILL!"

"OVER MY DEAD BODY, BIMBO!"

"Get out of way, PIG-BOY!

"DIE!"

And thus, the First Destruction of Ucchan's began.

One observer, at least, enjoyed the chaos. Ratiko Hibiki couldn't

remember the last time he was this happy. It was all falling into place.

He had all the bases covered and soon, Ranma would be dead and the future

would be saved!

Hibiki Reiraku's future held death, destruction, and revenge and

betrayal. He liked what he saw. How couldn't he? For the first time in

his life, things were falling into place. His plans were going from

point A to point B, without intermediate stops at C, D, aleph, omicron or

enhe, and _no one_ suspected a THING. He'd made sure of that. All the

bases were covered, and soon, so would Ranma - with a burial shroud.

With the jock's demise, he reminded himself, his own birth was

guaranteed.

If he was lucky enough, maybe this time he wouldn't come back.

Oh, yes, Rat was happy.

Rat was incredibly happy.

Rat was 'who cares where I am and who's watching, let's let out a

long maniacal laugh and chortle mysteriously while we rub one hand over

another'

So he did - or tried to.

"BWAHAW."

"BWAHEHEHehehehe..."

"HOO HOO HOO HUH huh..."

"MUHA!"

"MUA!"

"MUAHAHA!"

[That's it!]

"MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

He'd secretly wanted to do this for a long time, and he wasn't about

to let a little thing like lack of practice stop him. If he had to

rehearse his lunacy, so be it.

"MUAHAHAHAHAHA!" he laughed at last, pleased with the end product of

his patience. "Soon, Saotome... Soon I will have my... my... REVENGE!

MUAHAHAHAHA! MUAHAHAHAHA! MUAHAHAHAHA! MUA-"

"What," asked a voice from somewhere behind him, "is so funny?"

Reiraku stopped his impromptu voice lesson and looked for the source.

All he saw was a wide-brimmed hat and the hints of a dress poking from

the shadows of an alley's archway.

"Not funny," said Rat. "Joyous." He smiled. It didn't matter that he

didn't know who he was speaking to; this was the first minute of his

moment of triumph, and he'd be sure to mention that to anyone who'd

listen.

"Joyous?" The hidden speaker sounded dubious.

"I will save the world, restoring it to its proper path, so that I

may eventually be born to return and save it once more, and again, and

AGAIN, AND AGAIN, for all of ETERNITY! MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAheheh.

Sorry."

The shadows on the hat shifted as it tilted downwards.

"You want to save the world so that you will be born?"

"That's right." Rat beamed.

"You ARE born. You're here."

"But not conceived yet. I'm from the future."

"The future?"

"The future." Rat pause as he wondered what the Global Savior would

have said under similar circumstances. Considering he would eventually be

fit to bear the title himself, it was only proper that he emulate the

great Blue Thunder's style. "The proper, one and only, real and true

future. The future of Hibiki Reiraku! The future IS Hibiki Reiraku! I

will, I... uh... er..." It seemed that a way with words was requisite

for the Kunou Rant, and if there was one thing that Rat lacked, it was

eloquence. "That's... about it, really," he concluded weakly.

His audience was immobile. A slight breeze now and then brought bits

of what seemed to be a dress into the light, but the rest of the figure,

no matter how hard he squinted, remained disappointingly invisible.

"Who are you?" he asked.

"The past," answered the voice, and then stepped backwards,

dissolving fully into the blackness.

Rat was left alone with the breeze, his thoughts, and an echo that

seemed to say, 'the once and proper past'.

No matter how many ways she looked at it, the gathering at Ucchan's

was a disaster. Mum was yelling at dad. Dad was yelling at mum.

Everyone was trying to kill mum or dad. Miyabi didn't understand.

Nobody fell in love.

She didn't think things were going well, not at all.

She didn't think things would be this hard.

She didn't recall being so emotional before.

*sniffle*

The yelling and the fighting became just unbearable. It hurt to see

the ones she cared about the most like that.

What else could she do but run away?

She sat alone, in the park, feeling useless, helpless, angry, and

tired again. Occasionally, she'd toss stones into the pond, but for the

most part she just sat there and stared into the waters, as if there was

an answer to be found in the ripples and tides.

Stupid parents. Stupid uncles and aunts. Why was this happening?

*sniffle*

"Oh my."

Startled, Miyabi looked up but was blinded immediately by the sun.

Someone was standing above her but she could only make out a dark outline

of a female shape, capped by a large sunhat.

"Oh, hi," said Miyabi. She resumed staring glumly into the pond.

The woman sat down a small distance next to Miyabi, her hat

conveniently obscuring the view of her face, and proceeded to toss bread

crumbs at a few nearby geese.

Miyabi sniffled yet again.

The mystery woman offered a tissue. "Do you need this?" she asked.

Miyabi nodded and took it, then wiped her eyes. "Thanks."

There was something... something familiar about that voice... but

Miyabi couldn't quite tell what. It was definitely soothing.

"Rough day?" the woman asked.

Miyabi nodded. "It's... family stuff."

"Not getting along with your parents?"

"No, it's not that. They don't get along with each other."

"Fight with each other all the time?" asked the lady.

"Yeah, that's them," said Miyabi sadly. "Maybe you know them? Ranma

and Akane Saotome?"

"Oh, those two," the woman replied. "I wouldn't worry about those

two if I were you. Deep inside, they really do love each other. They

just don't like to show it to anyone else but each other."

"They're sure fooling me," whined Miyabi.

"Don't worry, everything will be all right." Somehow, in the way she

said it, Miyabi almost believed that it would be okay.

"Well, yeah, maybe." Miyabi drew her knees up to her chest and laid

her head down. "I wish I was just as sure about the others too."

"Others?" asked the woman.

"Yeah. Uncle Ryouga and Auntie Ukyou, Auntie Nabiki and Uncle

Tatewaki... they don't love each other and keep on getting in the way! In

fact," she added, a look of amused disgust on her face, "Uncle Tatewaki

is in love with my dad."

"Well... you can either trust in fate to bring hearts together or..."

"Or?"

The lady's voice gained a surprisingly cold edge. "Do whatever you

have to, whatever it takes to set things right. And if someone gets in

your way... that's their problem. Never give up, Miyabi-chan, never give

up."

Miyabi's eyes widened in shock at the suddenly savage advice of this

seemingly gentle and motherly figure. She slowly raised her head and

shifted her gaze...

"Ah..."

... and found herself alone.

"Um... hello?"

That's odd, she thought, I never told her my name.

Another time, another place...

... and lost again for Ryouga Hibiki.

He wasn't sure where he was, which was what was usually the state of

things, but it was definitely on a mountain. A very scenic, rocky, tall

mountain. He was currently walking along a somewhat narrow rocky path,

winding endlessly along the mountains and felt a small twinge of vertigo.

The drop was very, very long, but the beauty of the view was well worth

confronting the fear.

One day, if the Gods were generous, one day he hoped to share these

eternally beautiful vistas with Akane at his side.

"Oh Akane... someday I'll... I'll... huh?"

Whatever it was, it had a strange, supernatural beauty that blended

with the clear blue skies and the pale snow-covered slopes around him. It

was a small sphere of azure flame, flaring into existence slowly and

flickering a few feet ahead of him and in the air.

"What the..."

Suddenly, the sphere roared into a giant column of azure flame,

nearly blinding him. Ryouga lifted his arms and squinted, backing away

carefully.

And then the flame 'whoosh'ed into nothing.

There was, however, a figure standing where the fire was a moment

ago.

"Ryouga Hibiki?" the figure asked.

His vision clearing, Ryouga looked at the figure before him. It

seemed like... er... sort of... not exactly... but an awful lot like... a

somewhat insane... if better dressed version of... no...

"Gosunkugi?"

The figure winced and grumbled something about having a yen for every

time he heard something.

And then he suddenly lashed out with a black umbrella. Ryouga raised

his own in defense, stopping its end a few inches short of his face.

And then the blade popped out of the tip, reducing that distance to

centimeters.

"Hey! What are you doing?!"

"Trying to kill you."

The two clashed, Ryouga's powerful and massive umbrella vs. the

other's swift and sharp one. It became clear after several minutes that,

at least in wielding an umbrella, they were evenly matched.

"Why are you doing this?!" shouted Ryouga. "What have I ever done to

you?"

His enemy remained silent and continued his relentless attack.

Ryo Saotome, accidental tourist of time and reality, continued across

the universes, a streak of blue across all of creation, praying that the

next reality jaunt would bring him one step closer to home.

The next step was putting away Ryo Muhoshin.

He didn't know how he was going to do that, though, since the locket

couldn't teleport near enough to its other self and ruined the element of

surprise at the same time.

Once again, the blinding blue light flickered and faded around him

like dying flames, leaving him in yet another world.

And then the vertigo hit him like a freight train.

"Whoa!" His yell echoed all around him, bouncing off valleys and

mountains, and really emphasized the fact that he was ridiculously high

in altitude.

A hell of a view, a real killer, in fact.

There were, however, disturbing questions that were beginning to nag

him.

The... Muhoshin cat had a point. He DIDN'T have his jacket when this

whole adventure started. What did it mean? Was the locket more

sensitive than he thought it was? Was he controlling it in a

subconscious way?

Truth be told, he had absolutely no idea. Maybe, he thought, he was

worrying excessively? So he accidentally and unconsciously summoned his

jacket. So what?

He hoped that was the only thing he subconsciously summoned. The

thought of Bell-chan yanked into another reality gave him a moment's

chill.

Right. Enough worrying. Time to get on with it and take the next

step.

Carefully, he held the locket up and moved it about until its

supernatural glow increased.

"Gotcha."

Umbrella met umbrella in a furious duel of skill that would seem

ridiculous if it weren't for the fact that one umbrella had a blade at

the end of it and the other was heavy enough to shatter a man's bones on

impact.

Muhoshin was enjoying this, very much so. The rush of combat, the

thrill of danger. This Ryouga HAD to be the one. He was too damn hard

to kill.

"Why don't you just DIE!" he yelled, blade whizzing by Ryouga's

neck, missing by a hair.

"Shut up!" Ryouga countered with several deadly swings of his own

umbrella, forcing Muhoshin back a few steps.

And then there was an all too familiar burning in Muhoshin's chest.

"No not now not now NOT NOW!"

Unfortunately, this made him loose track of the fight. More

importantly, he failed to notice Ryouga's umbrella heading straight for

him.

As he ran towards the battle, the locket in his jacket pocket flared

brighter. _Please let him not notice!_

He noticed.

Muhoshin seemed to pause in the middle of the fight, taking a

staggered step back while clutching his chest. Then Ryouga struck him

solidly with a slash across the shirt. Muhoshin spun away, reeling from

the blow, clutching his chest.

Ryouga stepped forward, umbrella in hand and ready to deal out the

final blow in this duel. Whoever this person was, he was out to kill,

and Ryouga took that seriously. He couldn't give him time to recover.

His was staggering away, his back to everyone while clutching at his

chest. Ryouga wasn't sure, but he thought there was an odd blue glow

flickering from within the stranger's shirt.

He also seemed to be talking to someone, although it certainly wasn't

Ryouga. Talking to himself, perhaps?

"Aagh... Saotome, you bastard... NOT NOW DAMMIT!"

Saotome? Ryouga looked around and spotted an all too familiar

pigtailed boy appeared from the ridge above, landing between Ryouga and

his unknown assailant.

"Ranma? What are you doing here?"

"Who said I'm Ranma?" the pigtailed boy answered back.

As he came closer, Ryouga got a better look. It wasn't quite Ranma,

no. Almost, but not quite.

"Who are you? What're you doing here?" Ryouga asked.

"You can call me Ryo, and I'm here to put him," the Ranma-esque boy

pointed at Muhoshin, "back where he belongs."

Suddenly the Gosunkugi lookalike turned around and his wound was

revealed to them both, a mild red gash above his stomach.

That, however, wasn't what stopped them in their tracks.

In his chest, seared into his flesh, was a locket burning bright

azure flames.

"Oh Lord," whispered the person-that-wasn't-Ranma-but-really-

reminded-Ryouga-of-him, "what's happening to you?"

'Gosunkugi' glared at 'Ranma' with eyes blazing azure flame and

burning hatred. "STAY THE HELL AWAY FROM ME! BAKUSAITENKETSU!"

And then the entire mountainside came crashing down on them.

Ryouga skidded down the mountain, using his umbrella as a shield as

the mountain came crashing down on top of him. Finally, he reached the

bottom of the mountain, still relatively healthy, but buried by tons of

rock and debris.

"Dammit, some way, somehow, I KNOW this is Ranma's fault!"

Several massive shishi-houkoudans later, he managed to tunnel himself

to the surface. Of the two other, oddly familiar yet definitely not

Ranma and Gosunkugi persons, there was no sign.

[Look, Aman. It's the Asian babe again.]

[So it is, so it is...]

[Um. She's going to use the phone again.]

[The one we just had replaced?]

"Kunou baby, it's me againDON'TYOUDAREHANGUP!"

"* Ah, the distant Nabiki Tendo. How fares thee?"

"I fare in AFRICA, Kunou, now PLEASE get me a ride out of here?"

"* Methinks I had best leave the situation as is, I do not wish to be

accused of interfering in Tendo Family Business."

"Kunou! I am covered with bug bites and the bugs that made them, I

think the last bit of meat I had came from a dog, I don't dare walk down

the street without a pistol, even with the pistol there have been five

attempted robberies, two attempted rapes, and one attempted murder, the

children keep making me pity them and give them money I can't afford, and

to top it off I'VE GOT A SUNBURN! GET ME THE HELL OUT OF HERE!"

"* It sounds very cultural."

"CULTURAL?"

"* Ethnic."

"Kunou! GET! ME! OUT! OF! AFRICA!"

"* Ah, that I can do."

"Really? You can?!"

"* Certainly. I will rent the film for you as soon as you return. If

you return. Good day."

"Kunou? Kunou, DON'THANGUP... OH, $&amp;*(!^%!"

[Such language.]

[I think she's awfully attractive when she smashes things to bits.]

[All these phones are going to cost a lot to replace, Aman.]

[Who cares? It's not coming out of my paycheck.]

Muhoshin walked swiftly out of the swirling blue disc, brushing

strands of cerulean fire from his suit. It was getting to the point where

the flames hardly hurt at all... well... no. They still hurt, painfully

so. But it was getting to the point where the pain wasn't a bad thing.

He was in a park, it seemed. Yeah. The one in Nerima. Muhoshin

smiled; he had fond memories of many a pleasant mugging in this little

corner of the city...

Wait a minute. He'd only been here once or twice, and he certainly

hadn't mugged anyone in here...

Yes he had, right after he had been knocked out after the showdown at

the bridge and lost his memory.

Ryo frowned. He hadn't lost his memory, he had been whisked away by

the Jansen woman and her harem of idiots. What had he been remembering?

Damn, his head hurt.

He massaged his temples. Ryouga. His fault. Kill Ryouga, make

everything better. The REAL Ryouga. Not the cheap imitations.

But you can't beat the real thing, tittered a little voice inside his

head.

Muhoshin snarled. He could too! He would have won!

Angrily, he strode through the park, taking random swipes at

squirrels and tree limbs with his umbrella. Time to get a bite to eat,

kill this universe's Ryouga just on general principles, and move on.

It was a harvest moon, he noted. Somewhere in the distance, a violin

was being played.

He scowled. Something about this place offended him.

And then he emerged from a clump of trees, and saw the outline to two

figures sitting on the park bench, kissing.

Muhoshin felt a lump build in his throat. That's right, he'd come

here with Miss Ami. His Ami.

Or was her name Kaeri?

Perhaps there was a Muhoshin and a Ami on the bench?

He walked forward, and the gleam of the streetlights shone down on

the couple.

Ryouga and some girl. Kissing. Both slightly shy, but both obviously

very enthusiastic about it.

Muhoshin froze and watched, struck dumb by the unfairness of it all.

The gall.

Ryouga had killed his girl, then had not stayed dead, and then he had

the nerve to steal his park and his girl and his moon and his violins.

And then parade it in front of him.

Well. If Ryouga wanted violins, violins would take place.

Twirling his umbrella, he walked forward with swift and feline step.

Justice. Revenge.

Hibiki wasn't even paying attention to his surroundings. Oh, this was

just too easy.

Muhoshin pulled his arm back, and thrust.

He was right. Ryouga wasn't paying the slightest bit of attention to

anything except the girl in his arms.

The girl, however, was, and she screamed and tried to jump at Ryo.

The bladed tip sped forward

..."I'm Akari Unryuu." "Er, Ryo Muhoshin. Charmed."...

faster than he could possibly stop it

..."Look, I'm sorry. It was a mistake." "Taking me hostage was a

mistake?" "I said I was sorry."...

and the girl had managed to jump right in

..."Do you, Unryuu Akari, take this man to be your lawfully wedded

husband?" "I do." "And do you, Muhoshin Ryo..."...

front of the blade, and he watched as it slipped

..."Akari-chan, could you get me a cup of tea?" "Here you are,

Ryo-chan. Oh... Ukyou is coming for lunch tomorrow." "Just as long as

that husband of hers isn't."...

effortlessly through her pink ruffled blouse

..."Push, dear, push!" "Ryo..." "Push... oh my, is that the head?

What's that stuff on it? Doctor, if this isn't normal and you don't fix

it I'm going to cut off your..." "Ryo, hold my hand..." "'sokay,

dear..."...

and between her ribs, like a knife through butter

..."Daddy, why can't I play with Souji?" "He's a Hibiki, Ryori.

They're degenerate." "Mommy, what does that mean?"...

and her eyes bloomed and her pink dress turned

..."Dear, don't be that way." "If that boy lays a hand on her, I'm

going to feed him his spleen. Right before I cut off his..." "Ryo-chan,

you're being over-protective again." But dear, he's a HIBIKI!"...

dark crimson, and she crumpled in a heap, the light

..."Grandchildren. Can't abide em." "You old boar, you love bragging

to them about how you used to beat up their other grandpa." "And I wish

you wouldn't call me that." "Really?" "No. Not really."...

leaving her eyes, staring at him.

Muhoshin reeled back, trying to understand what had just happened to

him.

"Akari?" he whispered, staring in horror at the body in pink.

Ryouga was screaming something, kneeling beside her. Muhoshin just

kept backing away. Oh, God, he killed her, he killed Akari...

Who the hell was Akari? Why should he care? It was Ryouga's girl...

Ryouga rose, gave an inarticulate shriek of rage, and charged.

Muhoshin, in a daze, held out his umbrella, and Hibiki ran right into it.

MY AKARI OH GOD OH GOD

No, he'd never met her before in his life, no...

The locket flashed blue, and he screamed, and the park was empty of

all save Ryouga. And his girl.

Dinner that night was strangely quiet.

Of the time jumpers, only Miyabi and Ratiko appeared. Kasumi kept a

place set for the others, however, just in case.

Soun kept fidgeting in his seat, occasionally looking over his

shoulder with an air of anticipation. And Kasumi... Kasumi was hovering

over one of the empty places, which had a small vase of flowers by it.

Akane frowned. That particular place was set with the best china, and

the good silver. Who was Kasumi planning on seating...

Wait a second.

A quick count confirmed it. Kasumi had set one more place setting

than there were reality travelers.

"Er, Kasumi?" she asked hesitantly. "Who's seat is that?"

Kasumi smiled at her, a nervous, giddy sort of thing that took Akane

aback. "Oh. That's mother's place."

Great, Akane thought worriedly. Kasumi was cracking under the

weirdness.

"Did you see her again?" Soun asked eagerly. Kasumi shook her head

sadly.

"See who?" Akane asked.

Kasumi shot her the giddy smile again. "Mother. She's come back."

"I saw her!" Soun babbled. "And she put a cold cloth on my head!"

Ranma turned to his father and slowly spun one finger in a circle

around his ear. Genma nodded.

Akane just stared.

"Oh, it's true, Akane," Kasumi hurriedly said. "I saw her leave the

kitchen as I entered, and she had been cooking one of mother's recipes.

And father says she was... scarred... like the accident would have.. oh

dear." Her smile fluttered. "I think mother's ghost has come back to

visit us."

Across the table, Rat sank deeper into his seat and whimpered.

"Ghosts. Not another ghost. Why does it have to be ghosts?"

Miyabi, who had been fidgeting in her seat since the conversation

began, finally decided to speak. "Um. This ghost... did she have a

motherly voice, about Kasumi's height, wore and apron? Because if she

did, then I think I've seen her too."

"My dear sweet Kimiko's come back!" Soun bawled. Kasumi smiled

nervously. Akane just blinked a lot. Ranma and Genma adopted dubious

looks.

And through the window, Kaeri watched.

People were eating, and talking, and some of them were smiling. That

horrid little Reiraku person seemed uncomfortable. Except for the absence

of Nabiki and the presence of Miyabi and Ratiko, it seemed so wonderfully

normal. So much like the way things had been.

Not that Miyabi was out of place. She's always wanted grandchildren,

and she seemed like such a nice girl. Such a dear child...

Kasumi passed Miyabi the salt, saying something as she did. Kaeri

frowned slightly.

Was the food good enough? She hadn't gotten to make dinner... Kasumi

had interrupted her.

She was supposed to make dinner. Her. Not this Kasumi.

But wasn't Kasumi her?

No. Kasumi was blind.

Kasumi didn't SEE.

There she was, happy and stupid and in HER place. That should be HER

making dinner, HER smiling at Akane, HER family, HER life. What had

Kasumi ever done to deserve it?

Kaeri clenched her hands slightly, and crept off.

"So how are you enjoying school, Miyabi-chan?"

"Oh, just fine, Auntie Kasumi..."

"HEY!"

Everyone stared as Ranma leaped from his seat, ran to the window, and

peered out. Finally, looking a bit sheepish, he returned to his seat.

"What was all that about?" Akane asked irritably.

Ranma flushed. "I saw..."

"Yes?"

"I saw someone who looked like Kasumi lookin' in at us."

"Kimiko..." Soun muttered happily.

That was the end of the conversation for the rest of the meal.

Ryo Saotome appeared in the park in a flash of fire.

Grimly, he surveyed the scene. No skinny silhouette under the dim

lights, no Muhoshin lurking in the shadows. Just a bench, and a

streetlight, and...

And two bodies.

Slowly, reluctantly, he walked closer to where the two crumpled

figures lay in pools of crimson. As Ryo drew closer, he could see than

one of them was a girl, about his age, in what had been a pink dress. Her

eyes, open and glassy, stared unseeing at the harvest moon far above.

The other corpse was Ryouga Hibiki.

Damn, he thought, his fists clenching in grief and rage. This was

becoming an all too familiar event. Muhoshin had to be stopped.

Kneeling beside the motionless Hibiki, Ryo examined the wound. A

single stab to the chest, probably puncturing the aorta. Odd. It was a

rather clumsy spot to...

Ryouga's eyes flicked open.

Ryo managed to avoid yelping. Barely.

The eyes closed again. "Ranma..." slurred the Lost Boy, a trickle of

blood running from the side of his mouth. "Shoulda known... all your

fault..."

"Shh," Ryo said, quickly feeling for a pulse. "I'm going to call an

ambulance. Save your strength." He found the pulse; weak, fluttering

horribly, but still there.

"'snot gonna get here... Akari... killed Akari..." The eyes shot open

again, and a hand reached out to take Ryo by the shoulder in a painful

grip. "Ranma... get him... he killed Aka... get 'im for me... Ranma.. all

your fault, y'know..."

The eyes closed, the grip loosened, and the pulse surged once and

then vanished.

Ryo stood, bowed once and then began to walk away.

All his fault.

Muhoshin had to be stopped, and himself alone wasn't enough. At best,

he equaled 'Gosling', and he needed more than that. He needed to best

him. Which meant getting help, like he should have done in the first

place.

Tears tricked down his cheeks. He had been too proud to admit that

Muhoshin was more than he could handle alone, too confident, too

egotistical. After all, if his father could go it alone, why not him?

And Ryougas were paying the price the universe over.

All his fault

His, and Muhoshin's.

The tears slowly stopped. Enough self pity for one day.

The locket awoke to the command of his will, and flared as bright as

the stars above.

"Are weeeee there yeeeeeet?" whined the tourist, for the tenth time.

Nabiki gritted her teeth, tightened her grip on the machete, and gave the

next clump of vegetation a particularly vicious slash.

"It'll be while," she said in broken French. Sigh. French. Normally

at this time of day she'd be lounging on the sofa with her laptop and a

good spreadsheet program, maybe a nice iced coffee, and the Nikkei index.

Instead, she was guiding a group of overweight Frenchmen though the

Ethiopian jungle for a price that didn't even _begin_ to make up for the

sheer wretchedness of it all.

She was hopelessly lost, too., but that was only a minor

inconvenience. Or so she kept telling herself.

Hack. Slash. If nothing else, she was getting a hell of a workout.

Not to mention welts along her arm from the underbrush, and several

interesting species of insect that were taking up residence in her

clothes and hair. She had long since ceased to notice the flies.

The French were jabbering away in the rapid-fire dialect they used

among themselves. Not a good sign.

She cut away a particularly dense clump of jungle, and stopped dead.

It seemed to be an altar or a shrine of some sort. Lots of

plant-draped stone, and bas reliefs, and human skulls, and frescos of

people doing highly advanced, inventive, and very unpleasant things to

other people. She peered closer; what on earth were they doing to that

guy in the upper left-hand corner... oh.

Nabiki hastily looked away, and fought back a bit of rising bile. She

did NOT need to know that, nonono. Whoever built that thing had NO regard

for it's effects on tourism.

"Look, Marthe! My Nikon!"

"Oooo, John-Pierre, look at that!"

"I wonder if the tour guide has postcards of it?"

On the other hand...

Nabiki pulled out a handkerchief from her shirt and mopped the sweat

off her forehead. She had promised them native culture, and this was...

well... she supposed you could call it culture. Now all she had to do was

find her way back to the city, and...

"Nobody move."

Slowly, Nabiki looked up at the two dozen guerrillas training guns on

her and her tour group. There went her profit margin, she mused glumly.

Miyabi knew that her Aunt Nabiki was the most technology-oriented

member of the family, and was hoping that she had some sort of audio

editing equipment in her room.

She was pleasantly surprised to find something that resembled a small

recording studio tucked away in a corner of the middle Tendo sister's

desk. Complete with distortion effects, clarity focus, damper-recil

focusing...

Boy, she thought to herself, I never knew Auntie Nabiki was such a

recording buff.

So much the better for her purposes.

The tiny cassette recorder she had secreted on her was filled with

conversation from Ranma and Akane. All of it, of course, was completely

innocent.

She selected a worn, scratchy tape as her template. Despite the

unexpectedly high quality of Nabiki's equipment, she wanted something

with poor sound quality to cover up the splicing she was about to do.

Taking out the cassette recorder, she began to skim through it.

"*I still don't see why the kawaiikunee tomboy and me gotta go to

Ucchan's.*"

"*Do you like my shirt, Dad?*"

"*Uh, yeah, Miyabi, your shirt looks real nice.*"

*tttt*

"*...yeah, well, we'd better take off before Kunou gets here.*"

"*You aren't afraid of him, are you, Dad?*"

"*Kunou? Hell no! But the jerk's always trying to do something

hentai.

He just don't take a hint.*"

*ttttt*

"*How's the food, Ranchan?*"

"*Mmmmmm. Aaaah. Very good.*"

Miyabi smiled.

Ten minutes later, she rewound her template and hit play.

"Akane you kawaii tomboy, take off your shirt and let's do

something hentai together."

Hmm. Not bad. Now to do her mother's dialogue.

Ten more minutes later...

"Oh! yes Ranma, please undo my top button for me. Come to my

arms."

"Let me touch you there Akane. Mmmmmm. Aaaah. Very good."

This was almost too easy.

"Oh, yes Ranma, put your hand in my ooooooooh..."

"Help me out of my pants, Akane."

Miyabi frowned. While she had managed to construct an approximate

half hour tape of her parents making out, she was missing certain key

bits of Akane's dialogue. There were certain things she needs Akane to

say, and she didn't have the pieces to construct them on tape.

Unless she could come up with a way to fake it, her scheme to

dissuade the other fiancees might be over before it even started.

She sighed. Maybe that was for the best. Her parents had raised her

to be a honest, honorable person, and she didn't think that they'd be

thrilled to know that their daughter was putting together a fake tape of

them being... affectionate.

The fact that the voices on the tape were teenagers was all that was

keeping her from blushing madly every time she listened to it. As it is,

she still felt wrong.

Miyabi shook her head. Getting her parents together was more

important than any little moral qualms, and the first and most important

step was the get the other suitors to give up.

"Now where am I going to find someone who sounds like Akane?" she

muttered, clenching her fists in frustration. Nabiki didn't really sound

like her sister, and neither did Kasumi...

Wait a minute.

She quickly rewound the tape, and held it up to her mouth. "Testing."

She played the test.

Then she played one of the taped bits of Akane.

Okay, their voices weren't a _perfect_ match. But recorded from a

distance, and on a scratchy tape... Miyabi sounded enough like Akane to

fool the listener.

She smiled. This was her chance to have Akane speak whatever dialogue

she wanted.

Resetting the equipment, she got to work.

Kasumi blissfully cleaned the upstairs hall, humming to herself as

she did.

In truth, a lot of the blissfulness was feigned. The appearance of

several trans-dimensional relatives had strained even her sense of

normality, and the events of today had come close to making her lose her

composure.

In fact, one of the reasons she was cleaning the hall at this time of

night was in the vague hope that her mother's ghost would appear again.

Kasumi had a lot of things she wanted to ask her mother, and... well...

she missed her.

Besides, cleaning was the purpose of life. That, and cooking and

tidying.

"Ooooooh, Ranma..."

Kasumi blinked, and examined the door to Nabiki's room with what

someone who knew Kasumi would call a curious stare, but which anyone else

would call a absent glance.

Miyabi winced. Forcing herself to do this was proving harder than she

thought. The things she was saying were downright... incestuous.

Not, she firmly reminded herself, that _she_ was saying it. It was

just like reading a part in a play. A play in which her character was

coming on to her father, but a play nonetheless.

Courage, she told herself, and turned on the tape recorder once

again.

"Let me put the condom on you, Ranma. It'll be more fun for both of

us."

She clicked off the tape recorder, blushing madly.

"I can't believe..."

"...believe I just said that to my own father. Oh well, back to

work."

Kasumi blinked at the door. Her look had reached what would be mild

interest for a normal person, but for her was the equivalent of a

full-blown face-fault

"*giggle* Help me out of my bra... wait, are you sure no-one's

around? You know we have to keep this a secret..."

That was Miyabi's voice, all right.

Oh my.

Kasumi resolutely turned away from the door and resumed her cleaning.

If mother materialized tonight, she was going to ask her for advice on

this one.

Stealthily, quickly, Kaeri crept up the stairs to the upper hall. It

wouldn't do to have anyone see her yet. She still had things to do before

she could settle down and bake cookies again.

She frowned slightly. Kasumi was already doing the cooking. They

didn't really need her for that anymore... although... maybe Kasumi would

leave eventually? Go away, and never come back? Become Mrs. Ono, perhaps?

A long time ago, before they all died, she had thought about marrying

Tofu. Now... Kaeri wasn't sure. It seemed she had lived her life in a

blind, dreamy haze, and things looked different now. Not better.

Certainly not better. But different.

She had considered Tofu for a husband because he was such a dear,

funny man. Those no longer seemed to her to be positive things. But at

least he took good from bad. He make Akane better when she was hurt. He

could be dear and silly if he wanted.

Kaeri sighed, a little regretfully. Better that he stay dear and

funny and silly and completely blind. Better that they all stay that way.

She would stand guard over them.

Entering the hall, she went immediately to the closet in which she

kept her cleaning supplies.

Kasumi's cleaning supplies.

She frowned slightly. Hers.

But, upon opening the door, she found that the bottle of Windex was

on the bottom shelf instead of the top. She always put it on the top.

Kasumi's cleaning supplies.

She stood in the closet door for a few seconds, hands balled tightly

into fists, tears streaming down her cheeks. Then she took the bottle of

Windex and carefully placed it on the top shelf where it belonged,

desperately ignoring the faded ring in to bottom shelf that made it

perfectly clear that the bottle had been sitting on it for years, if not

decades.

Enough of that.

Bending down, she carefully removed a section of the closet wall,

feeling a certain sense of relief as she did so. Nabiki, her Nabiki, well

they were ALL her Nabiki but... she shook her head to clear it. Back

before they died, Nabiki had placed her journals and notebooks in a

secret cubby in the closet. Mostly secret. It was HER closet after all,

and Nabiki had failed to take any sort of precautions whatsoever to keep

her from finding it. After all, she was just happy happy stupid Kasumi.

Kaeri smiled absently. Nabiki-chan was always so very well informed,

and information was something she could use right now. Muhoshin-san had

done his best to inform her, but he didn't really know most of these

guests very well.

The top notebook, a spiral-ring tablet, bore a simple label: [Hibiki,

Reiraku (Ratiko)]. Tied to it by a strand of twine was a bit of cloth.

She opened it to the first page, and a folded sheet of paper slipped

out, floating to the floor. A quick perusal of it revealed it to be a

list of the reality jumpers, with their names and heritage given next to

a description. After scanning and committing the paper to memory, Kaeri

turned her attention back to the notebook.

The first page of the notebook listed Ratiko's mannerisms.

The second contained speculations and cross-references with the

Jansen

woman.

And the third told Nabiki's speculations regarding the scrap of cloth

and a vial of blood that had been found with it.

Nabiki had been unsure about that they meant, but seemed pretty

certain that he intended to hurt and frame somebody. And she was positive

that he didn't want anyone to know what he was doing.

Kaeri closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths. She was obviously

going to have to talk about this with Reiraku.

And then she turned the page, and there was Nabiki's recital of the

history of the world of 2096.

Happosai summoned a demon and it killed Ranma...

And Akane took a knife and killed Happosai and jumped off a bridge

and they buried her next to Ranma...

And Ukyou went mad and destroyed and wrecked and they took her to a

hospital AGAIN and it didn't do any good AGAIN and she never came out

AGAIN...

And something happened to Kasumi which made Tofu a little sad and

Nabiki died AGAIN in a bomb and then it started getting really

unpleasant...

NO NO NO NO NO NO

After a time, she noticed the blood welling up from the cuts her

nails were digging in her palms, and unclenched her fists. She stared at

the notebook blankly.

She had thought it was almost over, but it wasn't. No, no, not even

close to being done. Always Work to do, Work to do, must keep them happy

and safe and alive...

She stood, tucked the notebook and vial into her apron, and exited

the closet. She would find Reiraku, and drag the truth from him.

"Mother?"

Kaeri spun. In the shadows at the end of the hall was a familiar

figure in a familiar apron. Herself.

Kasumi smiled, beamed, glowed with happiness.

"Mother, I always knew you were watching over us. I hope I've done

well. I cook for them, like you used to, and I take care of them like you

did..."

Yes, just exactly like me, Kaeri thought, something odd rising up

inside her.

"...and do the floors and dishes... I know I can never really replace

you, but..."

It was too much.

"That's right!" she spat, fury engulfing her like a wave, "You can't!

You'll never be what I was! You are blind! Lazy! You don't take care of

them! You don't SEE! You're happy and stupid and it's ALL YOUR FAULT!"

Kasumi stared at her in blank disbelief, the smile crumpling, one eye

beginning to twitch slightly.

Turning, Kaeri stormed off down the stairs. Reiraku. She would find

him and pull the truth from him.

Kasumi remained standing there for a long time after she had left.

The day had been exhilarating for Reiraku. Exciting, thrilling,

joyous (can't forget the joyous, not after THAT strange meeting), but

also tiring.

The thought of a ghost running around Saotome's house made it unwise

to spend the night there, so he decided to go elsewhere for his repose.

Yawning, he made his way to an isolated park he'd noticed on the way

to the school, ended up back in the Tendo dojo, gave up, and curled up in

one of the unoccupied beds for a nice, long sleep...

It was high noon where the two representatives met, in a hut just off

a supposedly abandoned airstrip in Chad. Not that there were only two

people present. Each had brought an assortment of gun-toting bodyguards,

thugs, and individuals skilled in offensive chiropractory. Although

neither party was expecting any trouble, bodyguards were in this part of

the world what clothing was in Japan; unless you had them around you,

nobody took you seriously.

The two negotiators exchanged wary nods.

"Armand."

"Miss Tendo. Do you have the money?"

"You'll be paid. Do you have the merchandise?"

Armand rubbed his bristly chin with a air of studied indifference. "I

do. Fifty rocket-propelled grenades, Italian. Three hundred and five

AK-47 rifles, Russian. Ten ground-to-air missiles, man-portable,

American. Two hundred side arms, assorted. One hundred antitank

land mines, East German. One tactical thermonuclear weapon, Russian..."

"We didn't order one of those."

"You didn't?"

"No."

"I'll throw it in as a freebie."

"Fine. Let's see the merchandise."

The arms dealer gestured, and several large crates were brought

forward. The tops were removed, and the lethal contents revealed to the

dim light and waiting thugs. Inside was the downfall of nations, the

harbingers of riot, screams, and madness. The very worst of humanity.

"'Barney and Friends Meet The Care Bears'? VIDEOCASSETTES? What the

hell are you trying to pull?"

Purpling, Armand turned to his guards. "Idiots! The OTHER crates!"

The offending boxes were removed, and new ones set in their place.

Everyone noted with relief that they contained perfectly inoffensive

grenades, automatic weapons, and a small nuclear device.

"Well? Good stuff, eh?" Armand asked hopefully. Nabiki shrugged.

"No clue. Ali, check them."

A burly man, seemingly put together with extra helpings of muscle and

no neck, pushed his way to the crates. He lifted guns, peered down

barrels, fiddled with clips, and calibrated the uranium fission capacitor

assembly. Finally, he grunted.

"Guns good. Nuke good. Grenades a bit funny."

Armand frowned. "Those are perfectly quality, mon ami."

"Something funny. And Ali, not Ami," snarled the thug.

Sensing the growing tension, Nabiki raised a hand for quiet.

"Gentlemen. There's a simple way to settle this."

Taking a grenade from the crate, she pulled the pin and tossed it to

Armand, who caught it reflexively, shrieked, and threw it out the window.

Seconds later, an explosion rocked the hut.

Nabiki shrugged. "Well. They seem to work just fine."

Moving into a shadowed corner of the room where the wetness on his

crotch wouldn't be spotted, Armand began to cough politely.

"Gesundheit."

"Bless you."

"Got a cold?"

"Hot chamomile tea, that's the thing for a sore throat."

Armand frowned, and coughed more emphatically, holding out his hand

in the universal gesture of 'gimme'.

"Well, I mean, I haven't got a cup on me..."

"I got some of them cough drops."

"The Celestial Seasonings kind? Oooo, those are good."

"Grandpa always said to put butter on a sore throat."

The arms dealer sighed. Nabiki smirked.

"The money, eh?"

A briefcase was brought out. It contained money.

The money was counted.

"A pleasure doing business with you, Miss Tendo. Viva the

revolution."

*click*click*click*

"These are counter-revolutionaries, baka."

Sweating noticeably, Armand smiled at the guerrillas. "Of course.

Viva the counterrevolution, er, um."

Fake smiles from everyone. The thugs were all beginning to get tired

of the nice-nice crap, and wanted to shoot something.

"Nice doing business with you, Armand-baby. Be seeing you." Nabiki

turned to go, her bodyguards warily following her out. She smiled,

inwardly, as the jeep took the road towards El Amandral. The deal she had

just closed had earned her half of the cash for her trip home.

The radio crackled. "*Foxtrot Bravo?"

"Sure, Colonel. You can shoot them down now."

"*Delta Tango."

"You're welcome."

And that had just made her the _other_ half. Plus a little extra.

Rat was confused.

That wasn't in itself unusual, except that his confusion usually had

to do with stepping into the washroom for a quick shower and ending up in

the middle of a Zanzibarian marketplace.

This particular confusion was of an entirely different nature, and

consisted in trying to figure out exactly why he was currently being very

tightly gripped by a clothing-impaired nubile young woman upon what

appeared to be a glow-in-the-dark waterbed, while rows of chickens

watched from grandstands set up around the bioluminescent mattress. He

noticed a few roosters in the front rows were smoking cigars.

While his anonymous partner continued stroking his sides rhythmically

and exciting muscles he didn't know he had, Reiraku thought. This was a

difficult exercise, especially considering that whenever she touched him

there... and There, and especially THERE, it brought back memories of

those Halloween pranks in first-year Gross Anatomy, and a rather pleasant

evening with a rather frigid woman. It'd taken him a while to figure out

that his date for the night had been late in more than one respect, but

that didn't change matters - in any case, the current physiological

situation was distracting him from logical causational reasoning, so the

best he could do was remember that some time ago... Say, a minute? he'd

been trying to get to sleep, and some time later - NOW - he was

performing sordid acts in front of voyeuristic farm animals.

"Where... do you come from?" he asked his partner.

She didn't look up, but only lifted her moist lips slightly from his

inner thigh long enough to sultrily whisper, "From you, of course."

Old Faithful spewed red from the middle of Rat's face.

"I mean... ah... er... ah... aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah... erk. I

mean, who.. ah... are you?" This was all very enjoyable, but he figured

he'd better get this straight. He WAS in the past, after all, and a

little something like becoming his own grandfather could become rather

troublesome.

The girl looked up.

Rat gulped.

"Nabiki?"

A half-smirk on her part, with a mollifying twinkle in her eyes.

"Who else, Ratty baby?"

"You never seemed so... forward..." The chickens clucked wildly,

upset that the show had been interrupted. "Or exhibitionistic."

"What can I say? You turn me on." She lifted her leg, the waterbed

wobbling while she performed the necessary contortions, and shoved the

sole of her foot in front of his face. It had a switch on it.

"Excuse me, did you know your foot has a lever in it?"

"Yes."

"But..."

"Flip the switch."

"I'm sorry?"

"Turn me on. Weren't you listening?"

"Oh."

Rat flipped the switch.

The next few minutes could be described as dirty, obscene, perverted,

grotesque, artistic, surreal, demented, or physically impossible unless

you are a thirty-two-dimensional being equipped with six arms, three

legs, and more orifices than a strainer.

The chickens were happy, and so was Reiraku.

"Wow," he said at the conclusion of their act. That pretty much

summed it up, really, so he said it again. "Wow."

A few dogs dressed like nurses walked over to the bed and started

poking needles into him in preparation for a blood transfusion. He

barely noticed - that kind of thing had gone on for too long in his

childhood and preliminary internship for it to cause any sensation but

indifference.

What he paid more attention to was the mischievous smile on Nabiki's

face.

"You're a dream, lover-boy."

"No, Nabiki. YOU are."

She laughed.

"Your performance was sterling, Nezumi-chan. And a sterling

performance deserves a sterling reward."

She snapped her fingers and a faceless robot butler appeared, bearing

a small velvet-lined box.

"What is it?" asked Reiraku.

"A medal."

"A medal?"

"For you. Now close your eyes and let me put it around your neck..."

He did so. He felt a strange weight around his neck, and the warmth of a

girl's arms across it. Rat sighed contentedly.

"Can I open them now?"

"Yes."

He looked at his medal.

It was silver, it was heart-shaped, and it was surrounded by cerulean

flames.

The chickens began to melt, dissolving into puddles of red-

and-orange ooze. The bed, too, was disappearing, its foxfire fading, and

the only things left in the room were himself and Nabiki. He looked to

her for an explanation, and if possible, an encore of her previous

exertions, but she merely smiled, and winked, and waved good-bye.

A blinding flash of blue, an electric pain sizzling through his

bones, and the youthful Nabiki was replaced by a grey-haired crone.

"It took you long, Reiraku," she said.

"Long?"

"A hundred years." Her eyes glistened, ready to drop tears at any

moment. "Or don't you remember?"

"Remember? But I- who-"

"You don't, do you." The old woman shook her head and sighed sadly.

"You told me you'd abandon your destiny, your life - and so you did, but

then you abandoned ME."

"I... I don't know who you are. If you'll excuse me, I was just in

the middle of some rather intimate business, so if you don't mind-" He

held up the locket by its chain and concentrated, hoping it would send

him back to the proper place and time.

The locket swung, pendulum-like, but remained a dull silver.

"Blue, by Kunou! Turn BLUE!"

Silver.

His companion cackled, throwing her head back as she did.

"It won't work," she said. "You ARE in the proper place and time.

YOUR proper place and time."

He was in his pro-

Reiraku blinked.

Could he be back?

He looked around the room for the first time. Sparsely furnished, but

the little there was looked... right, with only a hint of perversion.

Rounded plastic stools, a few minor monitors along the walls, and through

a grate-window he saw the blurs of passing hovercars.

He WAS back, then. And he was ALIVE.

A satisfied smile made its way to Rat's face, and he allowed himself

a maniacal chuckle. Somehow, he'd managed to do it. Maybe... maybe he

hadn't done it yet, maybe he had YET to kill Saotome and drive his

bride-to-be to suicide, but somehow, somehow he had...

The crone coughed, hacked, and spit a wad of golden phlegm into a

nearby bowl, half-filled with the stuff.

"You haven't changed," she said.

"You must have, yourself," Rat pointed out, "since I don't recognize

you."

She smiled sadly.

"I knew you didn't. All we shared, all we did, all we gave each

other... and with the mere passage of a hundred years, you don't remember

poor Nabiki."

"Nabiki?! But... I..."

"Don't bother apologizing. You got lost, I lost myself... That is

the nature of things."

"I never meant to leave you! Only a minute ago I was-"

"A minute to you, a century to others." Her gaze hardened. "I lost

_everything_."

"But... but... a hundred years..." Rat squeezed the locket in his

palm. The object remained stubbornly cool. "You could've found someone

else..."

Another cackle, this one lasting several minutes.

"Someone else? Oh, yes, I found someone else. A DIFFERENT someone

else every night, for decades, and THEY left, too, but at least they were

nice enough to leave PAYMENT on the DRESSER!"

"WHAT?"

"You LIED to me. You... you BETRAYED me."

"I NEVER lied to you!"

"Everything you told me about... Kunou, Ranma, Akane..."

"Was TRUE!"

"Lies."

"To... to the best of my recollection, at least... I told you what I

could!"

"And all of it was wrong. I lost everything I owned. Even after the

first bankruptcy, I persevered in my trust of you, following everything

written in my notes..."

"It should have worked! I gave you invention dates, stocks that would

go up, details on the Kunou Foundation..."

"The Kunou Foundation, hm?"

"Yes, but-"

"The Kunou Foundation."

"You're repeating yourself."

"A totalitarian governmental organization, running on the precepts of

the great, almighty Kunou Tatewaki."

"Yes!"

"Then explain THIS."

Nabiki pressed a button, turning the bars on her grate- window to the

open position.

Reiraku blinked for a moment as the incoming sunlight blinded his

fluorescence-adapted eyes, then looked.

And screamed.

Directly outside the window was a billboard, and on the billboard was

a very familiar face. A very large and hated familiar face, with a

caption below it enough to draw his soul to the limits of emotional

endurance:

ALL HAIL THE IMMORTAL RANMA SAOTOME, GLOBAL SAVIOUR

"You betrayed me," continued Nabiki. "You gave me everything

backwards. Ranma didn't die; it was Kunou. Akane survived and went

religious after Kodachi committed suicide. And as for my other

sister..." A long, hard laugh followed. "She has a little something to

say to you."

"Kasumi is alive?" Rat's voice was weak, whimpering. His head was

throbbing; his head was crushing him with pain as he tried to sort the

situation out.

"Oh, she's alive. I keep her very well. Come out, my pet!"

Another button pressed, another flash of light, and when this second

barrier opened, Reiraku couldn't tell whether what it revealed was worse

than what he'd seen in the first.

It was his great-grandmother, ancient now, horribly scarred and in an

all-too-revealing leather bondage suit, holding a huge rod in her right

hand. She stood in the doorframe to her cell, unable to decide whether

she should leave or not, her stance military and her eyes as cold as the

locket in Rat's hand.

"You've saved yourself," said Nabiki, "because you were not ENTIRELY

a false prophet... I made sure of that. Oh, yes, Kasumi here DID breed

with Doctor Ono, and all the matchups leading up to your creation were

completed. They didn't call me 'Tokyo's Mad Madam' for nothing... I had

to make sure you came back, you see... I had to make sure you came back,

so that I could have the satisfaction of TORTURING you for what you did

to me, and for what you forced me to do to... to... to poor Kasumi..."

Here she broke down into sobs.

"Are you all right, Mistress?" asked the not-quite-his-great-

grandmother-as-she-should-be.

"Quite alright," said Nabiki, composing herself. "But I'm not as

young as I used to be, and I'm getting tired of this game."

"Mistress?"

"Kill him, Kasumi."

Reiraku backed into a corner, trying to escape, but there was no door

out of the apartment. Kasumi pushed a button on her rod, and a blade

popped out one end. She walked forwards slowly, deliberately, and placed

it at Rat's throat.

Reiraku screamed...

...and woke up from the nightmare...

...only to find a horribly scarred (although young) Kasumi smiling at

him while she held across his neck a very sharp- looking blade attached

to a very long staff.

[Must be hallucinating. Must still be dreaming.]

He squeezed his eyes shut, then opened them.

Kasumi was still smiling.

"Good morning!" she said cheerily.

"Er, ah, mm, good morning?" he ventured. He took the time to look

around the room. Not 2096, his or any perversion of it - this was

definitely the past... the present... whatever.

"Did you sleep well?"

He continued to consider the options. 1996, scarred Kasumi, lovely

YOUNG Nabiki nearby, blade over his throat...

"Ah, yes, yes I did. Um." Only scarred Kasumi and blade did not

belong. Where did they fit in? "Thank you for asking."

"You're welcome," the maimed intruder sweetly replied. "I know about

the blood and the cloth, by the way."

Rat instinctively began to snap his fingers, then decided against it,

since the ensuing jerking of his body would probably drive his neck into

the blade.

THAT'S where she fit in!

He'd fallen in love with the person he'd sworn to hate in order to

avenge his great-grandmother's ignominious torture and subsequent murder,

thus betraying her, which must mean that this not-so-lovely lady was an

irate ghost come from the future to put him in his place.

Which meant, of course, that he was hallucinating, and there was

nothing at all to worry about, since a) every science student knows time

travel is impossible, and b) ghosts exist, but he can't see them.

Wait a minute...

He'd traveled in time.

No matter, that was Ranma's fault. A paltry exception.

Ranma.

Was... supposed to be dead.

And a ghost, in his own time, but...

He was... occasionally... visible.

Objections a) and b) crumbled to dust.

At the same time, Ratiko's fear index, which had dropped to a mere

23%, skyrocketed to 110%. Suddenly the gentle smile on the figure before

him didn't look so gentle. It looked...

Ghoulish.

"You know about the blood and the cloth?"

A nod.

"And... About Nabiki?!"

A frown.

"What about Nabiki?"

"What about..." She DIDN'T know? That was a most definite plus.

"Aheheheh... Nothing at all. Who ever mentioned Nabiki?"

"You did."

"Well, I, uh..." He needed to do SOMETHING. In all the stories he'd

read, angry ghosts meant sudden death for someone, and it was

increasingly looking like that someone was him. He had to APPEASE her

somehow, show her that he HADN'T betrayed her. He had, of course, but

fooling her would at least buy time.

"I really AM doing the right thing, you know."

"Oh, are you?"

"Yes."

"And what is it that you're doing?"

Rat began to count things off on his fingers.

"Well, first I have to kill Ranma, then frame Miyabi for it, so that

Akane will commit suicide, and that will-"

"So you decided to kill Ranma and frame Miyabi-chan?" the scarred

Tendo asked cheerfully. Ratiko completely missed the hard, maniacal fires

that had ignited in her eyes, and nodded enthusiastically.

"Oh dear. I'm afraid I'm going to have to kill you now."

Rat blinked, and froze.

"Say that again?"

"Oh dear. I'm afraid I'm going to have to kill you now."

"But... I thought... you... I don't..."

"As in cut your head off, then chop what's left of your body into

tiny little bits which will fit easily into the garbage disposal."

Rat stared at her in horror. She smiled.

"But don't worry. After you're dealt with, I'll cleanse your

stinking, putrid reality off the face of time. So you'll never have

existed in the first place. Isn't that nice?"

Rat's depression-meter went from normal, background levels (23%) to

nigh-suicidal (150%) in the time it took for her to utter that statement.

Ki-flames began to lap out from his skin, looking like black solar

flares.

"Why? Who? What? Where? When?" he shrieked, desperately trying to

stall. ONE of those questions was bound to apply, and if she answered it

would buy him time.

No such luck.

The Kasumi lookalike smiled, and pulled back her staff to deliver the

fatal blow. "You are scum. I am Kaeri. You will die, here and now.

Good-bye."

The ki flames were building up around Rat's body, but they were still

weak. [[ERROR: INSUFFICIENT POWER FOR KE ACTIVATION. RECOMMEND MANUAL

D-KI BUILDUP: INITIATING PANIC/DREAD SEQUENCE]], Rat's mind screamed.

[Out of time!] he screamed back. [I don't have TIME to-]

The staff began its downwards swing.

[[EMERGENCY OVERRIDE: PRELIMINARY KE SEQUENCE ACTIVATED.]]

"SHISHI HOUKODAN!" screamed Reiraku. He cupped his hands in front of

him, and a wave of jet-black ki erupted from his body, slamming into

Kaeri.

Who merely stumbled, since building the energy for a properly

devastating ki-blast takes longer that the few seconds Rat had. But it

was a distraction, all right. Reflexively kicking Kaeri in the groin,

Ratiko ran like hell.

After saying some very un-Kasumilike things and clutching her nether

regions, Kaeri followed.

"I don't get it, mum. Why isn't Auntie Kasumi at breakfast?"

Akane shrugged helplessly. "I don't know, Miyabi. I knocked on her

door this morning, and she just told me to go away and leave her alone.

She didn't sound very good."

Frowning, Miyabi poked at her bacon moodily. "Maybe she's sick."

Her mother nodded. "I sort of hope so. This really isn't like

oneechan. If she isn't downstairs by lunch, I'm going to go ask her

what's wrong."

"HEEEEEEEELP!"

The two girls watched in puzzlement as a screaming Ratiko burst

through the dining room, glowing with black energy, hands cupped in a

frighteningly familiar way. Turning, he assumed a Ryougaesque pose. "DIE,

FOUL SPIRIT! PLEASE? SHISHI HOKODAN!"

A beam of black ki blasted out of Ratiko's cupped hands and towards

the door he had just emerged from. Unfortunately for Rat, every action

has an equal and opposite reaction, and the recoil from the blast sent

him flying across the room.

"Down!" Akane yelled, throwing herself beneath the table. Miyabi

blinked, and then followed her mother's lead just in time to avoid being

hit by Reiraku's shoulder as he flew overhead.

Akane frowned, somewhat worried. She'd seen Ryouga perform a Shishi

Houkodan enough times to know that whoever the target was, was NOT going

to be in good shape.

But then, Ryouga's blasts had never been that ominous, colorless

ebony...

Her train of thought was stopped by a staff end emerging from the

doorway.

*BOOM*

When the concussion wave had passed, the two girl slowly peered out

from behind their makeshift shelter.

Standing in the hole in the wall that used to be a doorframe was an

all-too familiar figure in a tattered apron, carrying a staff blazing

with crimson flame. A scarlet aura licked around her, tinged with the

remnants of black ki.

She looked at the open-mouthed Akane and Miyabi.

"Oh dear," she commented, and disappeared back through the wreckage

of the door.

Ratiko tore along the streets of Nerima as if his life depended on

it. Which, he believed, it did. The mad Kasumi was going to slice him to

bits if he didn't run just as fast as his feet could take him...

But, his mind gibbered, running's not good enough, she wants to make

it so you'll never be born, never even have existed!

Shut up and run, replied the part of his instinct that felt

psychotics with polearms were a very, very bad thing. While ceasing to

exist due to timeline destruction was a serious threat indeed, it was

rather abstract. Kaeri filleting him, on the other hand, was not.

Gottarungottagetawaygottarungottaheythat'sIshi-

*WHAM*

Rat barreled square into Ishido, who had just turned the corner and

was looking decidedly oblivious. Ish managed to retain his feet.

Ratiko... didn't.

"Watch where you're going, Hibiki."

"Waggga... whoosh..."

"Sorry about the elbow to the stomach. Instinct. You okay?"

Taking the proffered hand, Ratiko scrambled desperately to his feet,

the urge to run making him ignore the pain in his gut. Time to make

tracks again...

Wait a minute.

"Ishido! It's... horrible! Horrible! Madwoman! Killer! Blade! Stick!"

Not exactly the well reasoned argument he had intended on presenting.

It seemed to get Ishido's attention, though.

"What? Slow down!"

Ratiko took a few deep breaths, and tried to come up with a good

story. Amazingly, he found that he didn't need to. The honest truth, with

a few things left out, would do fine.

"There's... there's another time traveler.. Ish, she's completely

insane, she wants to make it so Childra and I's world never happens!

She's going to make us cease to exist! And she just tried to kill me, and

I think she might be looking for Childra!"

Rat's monologue had begun with him frantic and Ishido calm. It ended

with the exact opposite true. Ish's eyes were starting to take a definite

reddish tinge, and his body was trembling with an emotion Rat really

didn't want to analysis.

"Where... is... SHE?" Ishido snarled. Rat gave the amnesiac his best

helpful expression.

"The Tendo Dojo! We're got to hurry! Er, if you could just lead me to

AWK!"

Tucking a protesting Ratiko under his arm, the enraged warrior raced

off.

From his position beneath Ishido's armpit, Rat smiled. The berserker

martial artist was definitely in a rip-people-to-bits mood, and the

sooner Kaeri was in numerous bloody pieces the better. After all, she

wanted to kill him, she wanted to destroy his reality, and she KNEW. And

if she told anyone, the rest of Nerima would probably be after his head.

No, she needed to die, and Ishido was just the amniesiatic psychotic

killing machine for the job.

Ratiko grinned, and began to chuckle.

Then Ishido took the shortcut through the shoulder-height rosebushes.

The kind with thorns.

Azure flame burst around Ryo Saotome, their heat drying the last of

the tears that had coursed down his cheeks. As the blue fire slowly died

away, the upper hallway of the Tendo Dojo slowly faded into being.

Stepping out of the still burning portal, Ryo strode towards the

stairway. At least some of the others were probably downstairs, and, much

as he didn't like it, he still needed their help.

Which of them? Ishido seemed fairly solid, and certainly didn't like

Muhoshin. Childra would probably insist on going as well. Miyabi? Ryo

shook his head. She could fight, but he really didn't want her in harm's

way. He'd worry about her too much, and she just didn't have the

temperament for what promised to be a very nasty confrontation. Ratiko?

He snorted out loud, dismissing that thought immediately. "Ratiko

would be about as useful as a wooden nickel."

"Far less so."

Ryo started in surprise at the voice behind him. "Kasumi!" he began,

turning. "You startled m-..."

He broke off in shock. Kasumi had acquired a long, jagged scar below

her left eye. As a healer, his mind automatically identified the puffy,

white quality of the skin around it as burn tissue.

"Kasu.. Kasumi?" he stammered, aghast. Maybe he had jumped into the

wrong reality...

She smiled absently at him, a glazed, vacant sort of smile, and he

noticed the staff she was holding for the first time. "Not exactly. Are

you Ryo?"

The hope that this was actually another alternate timeline flickered

and died. "My God, Kasumi, what happened?"

"Kaeri."

"What?"

The smile seemed to become strained a bit. "My name is Kaeri.

Kasumi's downstairs. I think."

Damn, he thought glumly, not another one. "Are you not from this

world? You don't belong here?"

Kasumi's - Kaeri's - smile faded altogether. "Yes. No. I... I don't

know!" The gentle, absent tone disappeared, and she leaned forward. He

unconsciously retreated a step. "I need you to take me somewhere now,

Ryo-san. With your piece of the mirror."

Ryo nodded, feeling a mix of revulsion, pity, and relief. His senses

were screaming that there was something very wrong about this

doppelganger of his aunt, but she was the only reality jumper he had met

so far who seemed to want the right thing. "I can take you home, sure.

Where.. what reality..."

"Not home. To Reiraku's timeline. Right before Happosai summons the

demon."

Blinking, Ryo stared at her. "Why?"

She smiled, the expression seeming almost gleeful. "Because I'm going

to kill Happosai. And save them all. So they'll live. And nothing bad

will ever happen to them, ever again." The smile became stretched, too

broad by half, and she nodded decisively.

She's not well, Ryo realized. God, what had happened to her?

"Kasu..."

"KAERI!" she spat, her hand tightening on the staff. Ryo noticed

suddenly that three of the fingers that should have been gripping the

wood were gone, were mere stumps. "The blind little housekeeper's

downstairs! In my place! Mine!"

Suddenly she smiled, and the absent, glazed calm reappeared with the

same unnerving swiftness it had vanished. "Oh dear. I'm sorry, Ryo-san.

But I really do need to..."

He shook his head. "I'm sorry. We can't change things, really, no

matter how... bad they seem. We'd be ensuring the death of someone yet to

come. It's wrong."

"No!" Taking a notebook out of her apron, Kaeri shook it at him, the

smile never leaving her face. "This is wrong. They all die. All. Burn and

die."

He remembered what Childra had told him about his family in her

timeline, and an image of his mother in a mental institution briefly

flitted through his mind. Of his father, a charred corpse at sixteen...

And it would be so easy to just let her do it...

He shook his head. He remembered that Ranma's death had caused

influences that Childra claimed had changed the world for the better. And

one hundred years of life and thought had been built since that horrible

October. Changing anything would tear those billions of lives apart, wipe

them away.

Again, Ryo shook his head. "I can't. I'm sorry."

The scarred double of Kasumi seemed to droop, the frightening

intensity leaking out of her like air from a punctured balloon. "But...

oh. Oh dear. Please think about it?"

Ryo winced at the hopeless, pleading quality of her voice. What kinds

of things had been done to Kasumi to make her into this? He opened his

mouth to again ask what had happened, and then shut it again as he

remembered his reason for being here.

Muhoshin. He was still out there, killing.

"I've got to go. I'll talk to you when we get back, and I'll make

sure you get home safely. Okay?"

She gave a brief nod, seemingly lost in her own world. "I'm sorry,

Ryo-san."

He forced himself to smile at her. "It's okay." Turning, he again

began to head for the stairs. A door slammed somewhere below... was that

Ishido's voice he heard?

And suddenly something struck him on the side of the head, sending

him sprawling to the floor. He started to struggle to his feet, and

another blow landed on his jaw.

Dimly, through a haze, he became aware of someone wrenching the

locket from his hand. He tried to flail at his attacker, but his fist

struck only empty air.

Footsteps and angry shouts could be heard on the steps, and suddenly

he felt the air erupt with the cold blue flame of the locket.

Struggling to his feet, Ryo watched in horror as the Kasumi vanished

in a ball of cerulean fire, a mad look of triumph on her scarred face.

Their eyes met, for a split-second, and then she was gone.

"Ryo! Get her!" someone yelled.

And with that, Ratiko and Ishido charged past him, and into the

fading ring of light.

With a sinking feeling, Ryo stumbled after them, into the rippling,

shrinking portal.

A minute later, Kasumi walked out of her room and surveyed the empty

hallway with puzzlement.

"Oh my."

End Act 6

BONUS BLOOPER SECTION!

Here are a few of the scenes that almost, but not quite, made it into

Converging Series, Act VI:

BONUS SCENE NUMBER ONE:

For a while, there was some discussion among the authors of having the

reality jumpers leap into Terry Pratchett's Discworld. Here's what we

came up with...

CHILDRA AND ISHIDO AT UNSEEN UNIVERSITY

"An orangutan."

"Ook."

Childra looked at her lupine lover questioningly.

"Don't you mean 'awoooo!'?"

"No. Ook. I think that's its name."

"The orangutan's."

"Yes."

"Who also happens to be the librarian here."

"Correct."

"And you know this..."

"I tried to borrow a book."

Another arched eyebrow on Jansen's part.

"I didn't know you were much of a reader, wolf-boy." Ishido blushed

and looked at his shoes. "You have me interested. Go on."

"Well... after... I mean... Ryo... and...

"Ryo? Do you mean Gosling or Boy Scout?"

"Boy Scout! I mean... Saotome! Remember that book he was reading?"

Childra's expression became a queer mixture of revulsion, longing and

envy, but her eyes were absolutely dreamy.

"Oh, yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees..."

"Um... Are we talking about the same book? The Nero.. Neemi..."

Childra nodded, still looking into space. "The one with the devils...

and naked people.. and long pitchforks... and... and... Oh." Having

gotten the point, Ishido decided to stop. He hadn't brought a

handkerchief, and if she drooled, it could get messy.

"Je me souviens," concluded the historian.

"Well... I kind of wondered... This IS a magical university, where

you're supposed to learn things, I suppose, and that night..."

"Which night?" teased Childra.

"THAT night." The boy's cheeks reddened further.

"Oh, THAT night."

"Yes."

"Go on."

"I mean, THAT night was.. magical... and... well..." He scratched the

back of his head.

"Spit it out."

"I was looking for a magical copy of the Kama Sutra."

Childra face-faulted, then laughed, tossed her head back and hugged

her lobishomem, smothering him with kisses.

"My dear, dear boy! There's hope for you yet! Not..." Here she

grinned. "Not that you'd _learn_ much from it..."

"Well... I thought... Maybe if I were more _experienced_, I..."

"Hush." Childra put her fingers on his lips. "Someone's coming."

Ishido's eyes were about to bulge out of his sockets.

"You really DO have an affinity for these things, if you can-"

Jansen smirked benevolently.

"Not 'coming' THAT way, my perverted darling." She chuckled. "Oh yes,

there's hope for you yet."

An orangutan wandered down the disappointingly visible halls of

Unseen University, holding a bag of fruit in his right hand.

His transformation, he had to admit, hadn't exactly been a boon to

the romantic side of his life. The few girls who had clustered around

him before the accident (for his position, mostly - apart from the

addition of some facial hair, his appearance hadn't changed all THAT

much) had promptly left him.

Why? He didn't know. One or two cited some law against bestiality,

another complained that the fur he shed on her itched more than crabs,

and Cindy had had the audacity to tell him that he didn't say much

nowadays. Why, he 'ook'ed her several dozen times a night!

Thankfully, prostitutes didn't care about all that. As long as you

paid them enough, they were happy. Even his position was irrelevant, so

long as his position was correct, if you got his drift.

And as for communication... Well, that's what the bag of fruit was

for. With the amount that the Sisters of Mercy charged for their charity

cases, he had to make sure he was getting his money's worth, and he'd

found that a well-stocked grocer worked wonderfully in lieu of human

vocal chords.

Take, for instance, your average banana. By positioning it correctly

(and with, perhaps, the aid of a donut or two - or three) you could get

your meaning across quite explicitly.

And if you were feeling a tad adventurous... Well... bananas come in

bunches, don't they?

One word of caution, though. There WERE disadvantages to using food

products as signaling devices. The orangutan had found through a hard

and personal experience that it was a BAD, BAD thing to PULL OFF one of

the bananas from the bunch in the middle of the session.

He later discovered that, if you were foolish enough to do the above,

you were under _no_ circumstances, no matter HOW hungry you were, to

attempt to EAT it.

The mere memory of that night sent shivers down his nether regions.

But tonight... Tonight was definitely an apricot night.

He pulled one out of the bag and looked at it.

A smooth skin against two perfect cheeks, covered with just the

slightest bit of fuzz...

The orangutan stroked the fruit, savoring the feel of its velvet to

his hide before biting into it.

"Is that a banana you're holding, or are you just happy to see me?"

The librarian froze.

"Ook?"

"I guess he really WAS coming that way, lover-boy."

Ishido nodded, slightly green.

BONUS SCENE NUMBER TWO:

You may have noticed that Rat isn't exactly experienced at laughing

maniacally. Truth to tell, he's rather pathetic. We tried to fix this in

one of the early drafts of the scenes that actually made it in, by

providing him with an... instructor. =)

LEARNING TO LAUGH

Rat was happy.

Rat was incredibly happy.

Rat was 'who cares where I am and who's watching, let's let out a

long maniacal laugh and chortle mysteriously while we rub one hand over

another' happy.

So he did - or tried to.

"BWAHAW."

"BWAHEHEHehehehe..."

"HOO HOO HOO HUH huh..."

"MUHA!"

"MUA!"

"MUAHAHA!"

"Nonono," said a voice from the bushes. "You're doing it all wrong."

"Excuse me?"

"The laugh. It's not right." A pause. "Not right at all."

Rat was indignant. All right, so maybe he didn't have much practice

at being a benevolent villain, but he _was_ doing his best.

"Who are you to criticize me?" he asked his unseen companion.

Ryo Muhoshin stepped from the shadows into the sunlight. The added

light didn't brighten him up by much.

"Oh. It's _you_."

'Gosling' bowed.

"Me. At your service - but only for the sake of the reputation of

maniacal cacklers everywhere."

"So... uh... you... laugh maniacally?"

"Frequently." No need to mention that the incidence of his crazed

chuckles was inversely proportional to the number of live Ryougas in the

multiverse.

"And you... can teach me?"

"Enough chatter. Show me what you've got."

Rat swelled up with pride. Here was his chance to show off. He puffed

up his chest, opened his eyes wide, and...

"HOO HOO HOO HOO HU HUH HOO HOO!"

Muhoshin covered his ears.

"That," he said, "is NOT a laugh."

"It IS!"

"Not. You're hooting. And hooting BADLY."

"Then how..."

"First of all, don't open your lips when you laugh."

"Then how can I-"

"Trust me. Keep your lips shut, and pulse air through your throat.

Pretend your chest is a jammed tommy gun."

"Nice simile."

"Thank ye." A pause. "Understand it so far?"

"I think so. Closed lips, tommy gun chest..."

"Good. Next you toss your neck up slightly, while you're pulsing the

air through, and gradually open your lips-"

"I thought you told me to keep them closed!"

"ONLY AT THE BEGINNING! Will you LISTEN?"

Muhoshin was starting to glow a faint blue.

Rat listened.

"Anyway," continued Gosling, "you gradually open your lips while

you're doing all this, until you end up looking at the sky with your

mouth in a relaxed, slightly-opened state. You SMILE at the end. A

dog-smile, with your lips hanging open. Capiche?"

"Relaxed, slightly opened. Got it."

"Okay. Now try it."

"But... I'm..." Scared. He didn't like being laughed at or put down,

and considering how bad his last attempt had been...

"DO IT. I'm not about to let a Ryouga descendant go around with a

laugh that sounds like an orangutan in heat with a poker up his bottom.

It just isn't... Dignified."

"Erah..."

Muhoshin glared at Reiraku.

Reiraku closed his lips.

"Mmm, mhu, mhu, huh, huh, huh..."

"Getting there. Now MODULATE. Add SOUND."

"Muahahahahahahaha..."

"Now open your lips as your neck goes up! And make it LOUDER!

CRESCENDO!"

"MuahahahahaHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

"By George, he's got it!"

And with that, Muhoshin himself began to laugh.

"MuahahahahaHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" With each syllable, his fisted right

hand glowed a brighter blue, and the flame seemed to spread to his eyes.

A few seconds later, a blinding flash, and there was nothing left of

Gosling but the echo of his cackle.

BONUS SCENE NUMBER THREE:

The destruction of Ucchan's was originally a lot less destructive, and a

lot more enlightening, than the scene that we used... Here's a peek:

MISUNDERSTANDINGS

"Akane Tendo, how DARE YOU sleep with MY RANMA!"

There was this loud, thundering, heart-stopping sort of utter

silence.

Ukyou stared at Ranma. Ryouga stared at Akane. Shampoo stared at

Ranma and nearly dropped a bonbori. Kodachi was turning a particularly

angry shade of red.

Miyabi's next statement didn't exactly help with the situation.

"You two shouldn't- I mean- It's too- I'm not supposed to be born yet

and you might-!"

"Waitaminute! Me an'the tomboy didn't do nothing!" protested Ranma.

"That's right," Ukyou added. "He was with me all night."

"And Ryouga can vouch for where I've been sleeping for the past few

weeks," Akane said with a smirk. Ryouga blushed. "In fact," she

continued, "I'm... expecting."

"Hey, really?" Ukyou squeaked. "Congratulations, you two!"

"Jeeze, Ryouga, took ya long enough. I put a bun in Ucchan's oven

over two months back."

Miyabi, who had been progressively turning paler, fainted dead away.

"Miyabi?" asked Akane worriedly. "You okay?"

"She just tired," Shampoo said. "We up all night with two cucumbers

and copy of Kama Sutra."

END BLOOPERS

Annotations for Act 6

" A super-deformed version of Childra ran up to Ryo. "Oh, you've saved us from the Wicked Warlock," she said. " A tip of the hat to "The Wizard of Oz". - "Yes," answered her companion. "I just transferred here a few days ago. My name's... Miki." Miki from "Marmalade Boy". She has a thing for her step-brother. - "Did you use to live in Tomobiki?" A tip of the hat to "Urusei Yatsura" by Rumiko Takahashi. - " He swore he could hear a yawn. "Since when does a cat ever go anywhere it doesn't want to?" " Ross McKenzie's tribute to Alice in Wonderland, the Cheshire Muhoshin Cat. - "If that's the case, why didn't you wish yourself into another world, where the villain wears your face? You could have a slam-bang action adventure, like the two-dee movies you're always watching." Ross McKenzie's tip of the hat to John Woo's "Face Off" - "It sounds like someone has been reading too much Zelazny." Roger Zelazny, science fiction writer. Among his works, the Amber series. This scene inspired by the scene between Corwin and the bird in the book 'The Courts of Chaos'. It is noted that Muhoshin shares many traits with the Zelazny villain Brand, who is also a time/reality traveling criminal. This is entirely coincidence. Rod M., Ryo Muhoshin's creator, has never read a Zelazny book, and refused to do so until he's done writing "Converging Series". - "Pin-pon, pin-pon." English equivalent is 'bingo' - "I've been thinking about this, you and me," said Saotome. "About what's going to happen to us in the end." Much of this scene comes from Alan Moore's "The Killing Joke", one of the better Batman/Joker stories. - ..."I'm Akari Unryuu." "Er, Ryo Muhoshin. Charmed."... In "The Pursuit of Happiness", that world's Ryo Muhoshin meets and becomes the boyfriend of Akari Unryuu. The Muhoshin here is experiencing cross-reality flashbacks.


	9. Chapter 9

**Act 7**

The story so far...

ACT I:

In an alternate reality where Ranma married Shampoo,

their daughter had somehow obtained a magic locket that

allowed her to cross dimensions. A few accidents later,

several of Ranma's 'children' from various realities ended

up in one reality, where Ranma was still a teen-age youth.

One among them, Ryo Saotome (son of Ranma and Ukyou)

managed to get a hold of the locket before Cologne was about

to do something devious with it. Following his victory, Ryo

sent all the children of Ranma &amp; company to their proper

realities, and then prepared to go home himself. Something,

however, went wrong. He ended up in a bizarre version of

Tokyo in 2096 and accidentally dragged along Ratiko Hibiki

and Childra Jansen in his attempt to fix this mistake. That

attempt dragged him to two other realities with amazing

speed. From them, he accidentally brought Miyabi, daughter

of Ranma and Akane, and Ishido, a mysterious amnesiac hunted

by a shadowy organization. Finally, they stopped in a

reality where Ranma &amp; co. were still teens, but had never

met them before.

ACT II:

Childra, curious as to what caused their

dimensional/reality shift, watched Ryo Saotome closely, and

discovered that the locket is the source of their troubles.

She tried, and succeeded, in stealing the locket from him

without his noticing. Ratiko schemed to make sure that the

history of his world took place, and began a plan to kill

Ranma and frame Miyabi for the murder. He succeeded in

getting a blood sample from her and a torn piece of her

clothing, but was interrupted before he could go through

with his plan. In a talk with Ishido, he found out about a

certain umbrella-wielding maniac threatening to kill Ryouga

in Ishido's reality. In a panic, Ratiko rushed to Childra,

and accidentally triggered the locket. The three of them

found themselves on a bridge somewhere. Before they left,

they accidentally dragged along Ryo Muhoshin, a person that

looked amazingly like Hikaru Gosunkugi, but in truth was a

bit more devious. Bringing him along, the four crossed

several realities, narrowly escaping danger, capture, and

death. Then they returned to the Nerima they had left from,

with an irate Ryo Saotome waiting for them. Meanwhile,

Miyabi had put up with the antics of her grandparents (Soun

and Genma) who were overjoyed at her existence, distressed

at the way her parents were fighting, greatly annoyed at her

trans-dimensional half brother Ryo Saotome, and had decided

that a talk with Grandmother Nodoka was in order.

ACT III:

Miyabi went to Nodoka's to talk, unaware that Ranma's

life was in danger due to the promise Genma made to Nodoka

regarding manliness and Ranma's upbringing. The end result

was that Nodoka was invited to dinner, expecting to see her

son, daughter-in-law, and granddaughter. Miyabi's age,

almost that of Ranma, was, unfortunately, not foreseen as a

major problem by Miyabi. Upon returning from her accidental

trip through time, Childra surrendered the locket to Ryo

Saotome once again. Meanwhile, the extra passenger they

picked up, Ryo Muhoshin, passed himself off as 'Ryo

Gosunkugi, son of Gosunkugi and Ukyou' and had everyone

fooled. Nabiki got a hold of the material Ratiko was

planning to frame Miyabi with and used it to blackmail him

into buying her dinner, among other things. They end up at

Ucchan's, where he washed dishes to pay for things. He

eventually got drunk, hit on Ukyou, and was knocked out by a

blow to the head. Childra and Ishido became more...

intimately attached. When his guard was down, Ryo Saotome

was knocked out by Ryo Muhoshin, who then accidentally

triggered the locket and disappeared into times and places

unknown.

Ryo Saotome woke up much later to find the locket gone,

an image of it burned in his hand, and discovered what was

inside the locket:

A picture of him and Bell-chan, his fiancee.

ACT IV:

Ryo Saotome began making plans to assemble the locket

that he was apparently destined to create (the photo from

the locket being proof of that). Meanwhile, Ratiko spent

the day with Nabiki, buying her food and treats while also

beginning to feel somewhat attracted to her. Ishido and

Childra sorted through their fears and anxieties, but in the

end came together in a happy reunion within the local

graveyard. Miyabi &amp; the Tendo household held a dinner for

Nodoka, who was expecting to see her son at last. What

happened instead was that she had an interesting experience

with a time traveler (Happosai) and realized that Miyabi

was, in fact, Ranma's daughter from the future. She also

assumed that 'Ranko' was Genma's daughter from an affair.

Soun briefly assumed Akane was Genma's child from an affair

with his deceased wife. Things got ugly, but got better

again as they usually did (although Nodoka still thinks

Ranko is Genma's illegitimate child). Meanwhile, Under the

distrustful eyes of Childra and Ishido, Ryo Saotome used the

arcane resources within Happosai's room to create the

locket.

ACT V:

Ryo Muhoshin, having borrowed the locket from Ryo

Saotome by means of an umbrella applied to the back of the

head, found himself whisked away to a post-modern,

futuristic world populated by thousands of Kasumis, Ryougas,

and other familiar faces (Ministry of Confusion). After

losing the locket in a fall, he settled in and tried to make

the best of it, striking up a friendship with a Kasumi

extender named Ami. The relationship progressed to the point

of a date, at the end of which Ami was murdered by a berserk

Ryouga extender. Muhoshin killed him in retaliation, and

began a slow but methodical hunt for Ryougas across the

city.

Ryo Saotome, having remade the locket with some help

from three goddesses of time, arrived in this world just as

Muhoshin killed a Ryouga to recover his own locket. The two

fought inconclusively, with Muhoshin escaping.

Leaving 'Ministry of Confusion' in a hurried fashion,

Muhoshin rescued one world's Kasumi from a group of

terrorists intent on beating her to death. A veteran

time-jumper already, she took the name Kaeri to distinguish

herself from the more serene person she had been. The two

stayed together for a few weeks, with Kaeri recovering and

picking up some of Muhoshin's skills. Still obsessed with

the need to protect her family, Kaeri prevailed upon

Muhoshin to take her to Nerima - and off they went.

ACT VI

Nabiki unwisely allowed Ratiko to take the lead in a

brisk walk through Nerima. As a result, she found herself

lost in Africa.

Obeying her wishes, Ryo Muhoshin brought Kaeri to Nerima,

the version of Nerima that just happened to be the resting

place for Ishido, Childra, and the others...

Miyabi hatches a plan to use Nabiki's tape recording

equipment to make a fake conversation between Ranma and

Akane, so as to discourage the other rivals and possibly

nudge the two closer together.

Ratiko, after having just one of those days, hunted for

Ranma. Instead of finding him, he had another one of those

days.

Ryo Saotome chased Ryo Muhoshin across the worlds,

stumbling through across strange realities, and learning

that he has more power over the locket than he knew.

Ryo Muhoshin and Saotome confronted each other once more,

with the end result being dozens of injuries and a destroyed

building. This convinced Ryo Saotome that bringing in

Muhoshin would require a team effort.

Kaeri spied upon the Tendo household, finding out (much

to her distress) about the fate of her family in Ratiko and

Childra's world and causing much confusion among them until

Ryo Saotome, returning from other worlds, runs into her.

She tells him her tale, leaving out her involvement with Ryo

Muhoshin, and asks for his help in putting an end to the

timeline that creates Ratiko and Childra's world.

Ryo said no.

Kaeri hit him when he wasn't looking and took the locket.

Just before she disappeared, Ryo Saotome, Ishido, and

Ratiko jumped into the fading afterglow of the locket and

all disappeared.

And now...

Reality _shifted_, folded...

And she was standing in front of a gorilla. In a tuxedo.

No, Kaeri thought calmly, gorillas don't have six arms.

It's just something that resembles a gorilla in a tuxedo.

"May I ask if Madam has a reservation?"

Ah. A six-armed gorilla in a tuxedo with an upper-class

British accent. She was rather surprised at how easy it was

to stay calm.

"Oh dear...no..."

The gorilla looked at her kindly. "May I ask Madam's

name?"

"Kas...Kaeri Tendo."

One of the hairy, black-clad arms fished in a pocket

large enough to accommodate a mailbox, withdrawing a list.

"Tendo section, K's... several Kasumis, a Konatsu, a

Kentaro, a Kedo... ah, here you are. Tendo Kaeri. A

reservation was made for you by a Mr. P. Noone. Your table

is in the East Wing, number 546. May I wish you a pleasant

meal, Madam."

Kaeri was feeling rather befuddled by all this. She had

asked the locket to bring her to the start of Reiraku's

timeline. Instead, she was being told that her table was

ready, and seemed in imminent danger of having a wine list

thrust at her. It was all very odd...

For the first time, she noticed her surroundings. It was

a large, lushly-carpeted, oak-paneled reception area, lined

with green leather sofas and armchairs. A set of bronze

double doors stood at one end, vibrating in their doorframe.

Aside from that...there was no way out, or in.

Then there was a flash of green light, and Nabiki

appeared in the center of the room.

Well...it looked like Nabiki. Mostly. Nabiki wasn't quite

as...bulked out...as this person, and didn't go in for

military uniforms. Nor did she tote around large,

futuristic, impressive- looking firearms.

The gorilla gave a smile that probably wasn't intended to

be menacing. "May I ask if Madam has a reservation?"

"Yes. General Nabiki Tendo."

Out came the list. "Hmm... _which_ General Nabiki Tendo?"

The General frowned. "I'm the commander of the entire

RDF."

"So are four of the others, I'm afraid. Can the General

perhaps be more specific?"

"We're fighting the Ravening Commie Argyle Death Fleet,

in a heroic struggle to make the galaxy safe for

capitalism."

"That narrows it down to two, then..."

"I was last here with Brigadier Fokker?"

"Ah. That General Tendo. North Wing, Table 523. I'm

afraid the General will have to check her plasma ejector at

the door."

"Here you are."

"Have a pleasant meal, General."

The Nabiki strode off towards the doors, as Kaeri stared

in confusion.

"Is Madam waiting for someone?"

The gorilla was peering down at her with what she hoped

was an expression of polite concern. She shook her head.

"No, thank you. Where am I?"

"Madam is in the reception area."

"No, I mean...oh dear. Where in..."

"Ah. Madam is in the Cafe Eternum."

"Oh."

"Perhaps madam would care to be shown to her table?"

Kaeri briefly considered this. "No, that's all right.

I'll find my own way. Thank you."

The gorilla watched as the rather bedraggled girl in the

apron made her way through the doors, and sighed. She had

been through that spiel before, but usually it was with a

Ryouga. You got all types in this job. Just two more hours,

and it was back home for a nice spot of tea...

The phone rang, and one of the arms reluctantly reached

out to take it.

"Cafe Eternum, Front Desk, Kasumi Tendo speaking, how may

I help you?"

The first thing to hit her upon opening the doors was the

wave of noise. Make that the tsunami of noise.

Chattering, yelling, laughing, clinking of glasses...all

the sounds one hears in a normal restaurant, only much,

much, much more of them. A rather good swing band was

somehow managing to be just on the verge of drowning it all

out, presumably by using speakers the size of Buicks turned

to the "Lethal" setting.

The second thing to hit her was the size of the room.

She'd seen smaller sports arenas. Mind you, most sports

arenas aren't done in tastefully stained wood panels with

lots of leather, ornate picture frames, and gilding. They

don't often have kilometer long wet bars, or enough tables,

alcoves, booths, and nooks to seat the entire population of

a small African nation.

The third thing to hit her was the people. Despite the

reference above, most of them didn't resemble the population

of a small African nation. Many of them, however, did

resemble Ranma. And Akane. And Ryouga. And lots and lots of

people who seemed to look a bit like Muhoshin-san.

The fourth thing to hit her was a very, very drunk Ukyou

Kuonji, who managed to plant a neat left cross on her jaw.

She fell to the floor, feeling rather hurt at this

treatment. And Ukyou-chan had always seemed like such a

nice girl...

"UKYOU! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?"

Kaeri blinked. Ranma?

Ukyou turned, swaying rather noticeably. "Shee took my

Ryouga-chan, the violent, tomboy shlut..."

Ranma took her by the shoulders and shook her a bit.

"Ukyou, that's the wrong Kasumi. C'mon, give me the earring,

I'm taking you home."

"Shee can't cook, shee hits him, an, an, I'm cuter..."

"C'mon, Ukyou..."

The pair walked off, Ranma supporting a madly sobbing

Ukyou, as Kaeri struggled to her feet. The people sitting at

the nearby tables stopped staring and went back to their

respective conversations.

"...so it was a bit of a shock to discover that P-chan

was actually Akane! I mean, here she acts like she hates me,

always the "Ranma no Baka" and the mallet, and it turns out

that she's actually been my pet pig; sleeping in my bed with

me at night, trying to hump my leg..."

"...so strange, Ryouga's male in my world. You say

he...sorry, she actually married Ranma? Go figure..."

"..the Collective can get stuffed, Tsubasa. You're the

girl I love, and if they can't handle that, then they can go

to..."

She shook her head. Life had been odd of late, but

this...her grasp of reality was hanging over the cliff of

insanity by the fingernails of instinct, scrabbling

desperately for the protruding tree root of normality and

wishing the writer wouldn't use such bad metaphors.

Well...she could either stand here all day, or move on.

Moving on seemed like the better idea.

So she pushed her way through the tables, past clumps of

merrily chatting copies of people she knew, until her path

was blocked by a rather large party of gaijins. Loud, noisy,

slightly tanked gaijins. And Kodachi Kuno.

"Excuse me..."

One of them, a scruffy-looking young man, looked up from

his inspection of a whiskey stein. "Yah? Wot can I be doin'

fer ya?"

"I'm trying to get by..."

The scruffy gaijin nodded politely. "Right yah are.

Ko-chan, can ya be movin' yer chair outta the way o dis

lady?"

Kodachi obligingly transferred her person to his lap, and

Kaeri walked past, colliding as she did with another gaijin,

this one in a floppy, wide-brimmed hat and a multicolored

scarf.

"Excuse me. Would you, by chance, have seen a young lady,

name of Sarah?"

She stared at him. "Who?"

"Yes, actually. But about Sarah..."

"I'm sorry, I don't know her."

"Oh well. Sorry to bother you." He walked off, scarf

fluttering behind him, vanishing into a nearby blue phone

booth. Shrugging, she continued her trek.

Taking a left at a stand of potted palms, she found

herself staring at Ryo Muhoshin. All three dozen of him.

"M...Muhoshin-san?"

"Yes?" they asked in unison.

"Oh my...are any of you the Muhoshin-san I know?"

The Ryos adjusted their Havana cigars and considered

this.

"I'm afraid," one finally replied, "none of us are. Are

you Kaeri Tendo?"

"Well, yes..."

The Ryo waggled his cigar at her. "Hrumph. You've been

involved with that other Muhoshin, haven't you? The one

going around wiping out timelines?"

"Yes, I suppose I have...Muhoshin-san's a nice young

man..."

"He," the Ryo said with gravity, "is a menace."

"Not that he isn't a extremely clever, resourceful, and

stylish menace," another one added.

"A very witty fellow, I think," chimed a third.

"But," the first one finished, "a menace nonetheless.

Why, he wiped out Ryo's home reality!"

"Who?"

He pointed to a glum-looking Muhoshin playing backgammon

in a corner booth. "That one. Was in the Cafe when it

happened, luckily."

"Oh my!"

"Yes, it was quite a shock, poor chap. He just looked up,

said drat', and got blind drunk when they told him."

She looked at the unlucky Ryo with sympathy. "The poor

man. My home's gone too, you know..."

"Oh? That mad Ryo blow it up?"

"No, I did."

The assembled Muhoshins stirred uneasily at this

pronouncement.

"I'm on my way to stop this horrible future timeline

right now..."

The Ryo stuck his cigar back in his mouth and hastily

led her away. "You might not want to say that in public,

Miss Kaeri. We lot are about as sympathetic as you'll get,

and I think some of the lads are considering running you

through for that statement."

Kaeri looked shocked. "They wouldn't!"

"Well...no. We like you. But for your own safety, please

don't talk like that. Eh?"

"Okay."

"Good girl. Oh, and do steer clear of that other pack of

Ryos. Frightful scoundrels. Give us a bad name. They

actually want to _kill_ Ryouga, can you imagine?"

"Don't you?"

The Ryo looked shocked. "Certainly not! We want to beat

him at cribbage."

"Oh?"

"Oh yes. We're very keen on cribbage. Play the cursed

Hibiki every week. Good luck, and mind what I said." With

that, he headed back to his armchair.

"There you are!"

She spun, to come face to face with a rather annoyed

looking fellow dressed...well, like Ryouga. "Excuse me?"

"We told you people not to leave the reserved room. Come

on!" With that, he dragged her off by the arm. Somewhat

curious, she followed, apologizing to a group of Gosunkugis

she brushed against.

They stopped at the door to a side room, and the man

knocked. "I found her!"

The door opened, and a Gosunkugi... no, Gos wasn't a

gaijin...in a black trenchcoat stuck his head out. ABBA

could be heard in the background.

"You found..? Aw, damnit, Rod found her in the broom

closet five minutes ago."

"You mean...?"

"Yup."

The man turned to her, sweating. "Um. Sorry, mistaken

identity. Bye." He vanished inside the room, the door

rapidly closing behind him.

She stood staring at the door for a few minutes, an

unexplainable feeling of dread moving through her.

Once, she dimly recalled, long ago, life had made some

sort of sense. On occasion, it still did.

And then there were times like now. It was moments like

this that prompted people to shoot themselves, or refuse to

ever talk again, or start conversations with trees. At times

like this, insanity was much less odd than what was feebly

trying to pass for reality.

Well. She wasn't going to take this anymore. Fishing out

the locket, she stared at it, focusing her will. "Take me

to..."

It flared like a roman candle, causing her to yelp in

pain and drop it. Across the room, diners were swearing as

their coat pockets, purses, and, in a few cases, cleavage

erupted with azure flame.

Whoops. That's right. You can't use it by other copies.

Fortunately for her, no-one seemed to know who had

triggered the flareup. Several Muhoshins were loudly

insisting it to be the fault of a Ryouga, while a quintet of

Akanes began pounding their respective Ranmas (or, in one

case, Gosunkugi) into the ground.

It would probably be a good idea to leave the area,

before someone started to make a serious search for the

offender.

Her table, she dimly recalled, was in the "East Wing".

Perhaps someone would feed her. That would be nice; she

hadn't eaten in quite a while. Should she go find it? Yes,

said her stomach (which was filling in for her rather

overburdened mind), she should.

The East Wing, she reasoned, was probably east. Whichever

way that was. They had taught her in school how to find

north by seeing on which side of trees moss grew on. Sadly,

five-star restaurants have a distinct lack of moss-encrusted

trees.

So she did the sensible thing, and walked over to an

Akane eating dinner with Nabiki.

"Nab-chan, I still find it hard to believe we've only

been married a year. I don't think I could have asked for a

better wife."

Oh. Oh my. This was interesting. "Excuse me," she asked,

"which way is the East Wing?"

Akane turned, smiling politely. "Take a left at the clump

of pewter flamingos over there, and go straight on."

"Thank you, Akane-chan!" Kaeri strode off, her eyes

misting a bit. Even in alternate dimensions, Akane was

polite and kind. Mother would be proud.

The Akane turned back to her wife. "I still can't figure

out how you managed to fall in love with me, with this curse

and all..."

Nabiki smiled. "Don't be silly, Ryouga-chan. I love you

no matter what you look like. Besides, I'm sure you could

have picked worse springs to fall in than Akaneniichuan..."

She was lost.

That is, even more so than usual.

The swing band was gone, and in it's place was something

by Bach. Not churchgoing Bach, either. This was the kind of

Bach Count Dracula enjoyed pounding out.

The walls had become faintly less cheery, and distinctly

more gothic. You wouldn't catch a potted palm dead in this

wing. On the other hand, maybe you _would_ catch it dead.

And then there were the people. They looked a lot like

Muhoshin-san, at least in that they were pale, thin, and

looked like they had been staying up past their bedtimes.

And those were the younger ones. The older ones

looked...well...embalmed. And not by a particularly

competent mortician, either.

"...Collective is insisting something be done! Four

realities, #843, four of them, all with Collective members.

Gone. And people are saying it's our fault, look at the

guy..."

"...my sister' is a fool. Worse than a fool. And that

white...shows the dirt and blood far too easily. Give me

basic black any day. Now. It's very simple. All you have to

do is..."

"...My brothers? Not a chance. They last saw me falling

into the abyss, with an arrow in my neck and another by my

heart. No, they all are safe in the knowledge that Brand is

dead. This Collective of yours, they can move through

shadow? How do they manage..."

She sincerely hoped this wasn't the East Wing. None of

these people looked as nice as Muhoshin-san. But it would

probably be a good idea to make sure. Walking over to a

young lady in a black dress, she tapped her on the shoulder.

"Excuse me? Is this the East Wing?"

The woman turned, and Kaeri noticed the alcohol blush on

her cheeks. Judging from that, and the half-empty bottle of

wine, the woman was likely a few sheets to the wind. "No,"

she replied, her voice annoyed and slightly slurred. "This

the the Northwest.." Her eyes, bordered by tattooed

diamonds of black, focused on Kaeri and went wide with

shock. "YOU!"

Oh dear. "Me?"

Leaping back from her chair, the woman in black reached

for a sheath by her belt in a smooth, practiced motion

(marred only slightly by a noticeable swaying), drawing

forth an ornate dagger. "You...you should be dead! How

did you..." Abruptly, her demeanor changed, going from

shock to contempt. "So, Our Lady of Mindless Saccharine

still lives. What a pleasure. Normally I'm only able to kill

people twice..."

She trailed off, suddenly noticing that every eye in the

immediate (and not so immediate) vicinity was trained on

her.

An elderly man stood, an expression of disapproval etched

on his face. "Sicarii. That's really the wrong sort of knife

to butter a roll with."

Several Gosunkugis chuckled. Sicarii turned an

interesting shade of purple, and curtly nodded.

Kaeri felt that she should say something polite to help

break the tension. "My, what a nice knife! What is it for?"

Sicarii stared at her for a second, gaping at the sheer

gall of the question. Then her face contorted into a feral

grin, her eyes gleaming with a unhealthy light. "Let me show

you!" she snarled, and leaped. The dagger in her hand flared

with green fire as it thrust for the heart, and scarlet

ki-flame rimmed her in a flickering aura.

Kaeri jumped backwards, her staff coming up in an arc

intended to catch the madly grinning Gosunkugi on the

stomach.

Luckily for both of them, Sicarii tripped over a chair

and fell to the floor. Kaeri's staff whistled over her,

ultimately coming to rest in a gentleman's groin. He made a

peculiar whistling sound, akin to a football being deflated,

and folded over.

Aghast, Kaeri walked over to apologize. Sicarii picked

this moment to tackle her from behind, sending both tumbling

to the floor. The waiter picked this moment to walk in with

Souji Gosunkugi's Duck Flambe. No-one picked that moment to

knock the waiter on his tuxedoed rear, but that's what

happened.

The duck rose like a gourmet meteor, and then fell to

earth. Or, rather, to Gosunkugi. Kento #25 found his jacket

alight, and immediately grabbed the nearest glass of water

to douse it.

Unfortunately, the nearest glass of water turned out to

be the nearest glass of Old Brainmelter Vodka.

*splash* *WHOOSH!* "AAAAARGH!"

Kaeri, had she seen this, probably would have apologized.

But having a yowling, squirrelish maniac in black trying to

strangle you is a tad distracting, and so she instead

concentrated on keeping Sicarii's hands off her windpipe.

Her hand fell on the edge of a plate, and she brought it

down on what she hoped was Sicarii's head. It wasn't.

Sicarii expressed her displeasure about being hit on the

bottom with a plate of Jello by attempting to remove Kaeri's

kneecaps with her teeth.

Several Gosunkugis had begun incanting extinguishing

spells, and unleashed them on the screaming Kento #25. Most

of them worked. But Hodoko #12 (who was not just teetering

on the brink of senility but was instead already in

freefall) managed to botch a simple incantation in truly

brilliant fashion.

With a flash of ruby light, all of the tables in the area

began to move. Several of them grew teeth of the sort

normally found on the more impressive types of carnivore.

The Gosunkugis began to blast them with mystical

energies, arcane enchantments, and handy platters of

sweet-and-sour pork.

The tables tried to eat the Gosunkugis.

Sicarii had found a perch on Kaeri's back, and was trying

to twist her head off.

Kaeri, on her hands and knees, was bringing up her staff

to remove her unwanted passenger when Joey #54 (of the San

Francisco Gosunkugis) lost control of his Symphony for

Flamethrower and Blender spell, and tossed it at her by

mistake.

Sicarii, her sense of self-preservation belatedly kicking

in, jumped for the relative safety of the floor. Kaeri,

running on instinct and not a whole lot else, placed her big

piece of wood in between her and the oncoming ball of

razorsteel and inferno.

The ball hit. And vanished.

The carvings along the staff erupted with crimson energy,

setting the nearby carpet aflame. Sicarii shrieked, and

frantically tried to put out the merry blaze that had

erupted in her hair. Kaeri took the opportunity to introduce

Mr. Skull to Mr. Chair, and the Assassin slumped into

unconsciousness.

And that's when the sprinkler system turned on.

Kaeri sighed, and began to crawl for the exit, unmindful

of the Giant War Dingos pouring through the rift that Hodoko

#12's latest mistake had just opened.

Three miles, five hours, and six sets of contradictory

directions later, Kaeri entered the East Wing.

The familiar faces had vanished several minutes back. No

Tendos or Saotomes, Hibikis or Muhoshins or Gosunkugis. The

most you could say about the East Wing was that some of the

diners were human.

She tried to place the music, a dreamy, outlandish, oddly

familiar jazz riff. Somehow, it fit. The walls here, a smoky

black marble, were almost invisible in the dim light. A

single candle was set in a wine bottle atop each table,

casting shadows that loomed at her before being lost in the

deeper blackness along the wall.

"...Miller, I tell him, you're keeping her on too tight a

leash. It could cost us our jobs, and Heaven isn't much for

layoff benefits..."

"...I'm sorry, Mr. Ishmael, but we're fresh out of

positions. I wouldn't be discouraged, though. We aren't the

only Hell in the realities..."

"...I HOPE THE STABLE IS ADEQUATE. BINKY GETS CROSS,

OTHERWISE. TRY THE NACHOS, BY THE WAY..."

"Kaeri Tendo?"

She spun, to find herself face to face with a man. What

sort of man, she couldn't say. It wasn't precisely that he

was unremarkable, or hidden by the shadows that swirled

around the room...he was just...hard to focus on. If eyes

needed handholds, this fellow was covered in an inch of

grease.

"Yes?"

"I'm Mr. Noone. Your table is this way."

"Oh! Thank you..."

He led her across the room (it did have a ceiling, it had

to have one) and seated her, and gave her a menu, and sat

down across from her.

She had the bouillabaisse. He ordered wine.

Setting down the menu, she tried to catch his eyes with

her own. When this proved impossible, she settled for

staring firmly in his general direction.

"I'm very grateful for the reservation, Noone-san. But,

please excuse me, do I know you?"

He smiled. "Yes, and no. I know a good deal about you,

and you, in return, know a good bit about me. You just don't

realize it yet."

Kaeri frowned. Her dinner companion was talking in

riddles, which she found rather unnerving, and slightly

rude. "Was there something you wished to discuss with me?"

If he danced around things, she would be direct. It ran

against her nature, though... no! Against Kasumi's nature!

Weak Kasumi! Blind Kasumi!

"Do you really think this plan to destroy Reiraku's

timeline will solve anything?"

Her mouth went dry. "How did you know..."

Noone chuckled, the sound somehow sad. "I have my ways.

But back to the question. What good will it do?"

She stared at him. "What good? Do you even need to ask?

The very idea of it is _obscene_. I wept at each word I read

of it. It's as though some mad, evil, twisted god decided to

to destroy everyone I love as thoroughly and completely as

possible. I'll cleanse it. Kasumi scrubbed floors. I'll

scrub worlds." She glared at him, waiting for him to

challenge her claims.

"And then what?"

She blinked. "What? I don't.."

"What happens afterwards? When you've destroyed..."

"Cleansed," she said, a bit too quickly.

"Either one. What happens then? There are worse worlds

than Reiraku's, Kaeri, and there are more of them than there

are tables in this restaurant. Will you destroy...

cleanse... them all? Their number grows daily, just as do

the worlds of love and joy. Will you ever see those bright

worlds? By the time you stop, will you even belong in them?"

It was a staggering concept, and one she had deliberately

avoided. There were infinite worlds. Infinite Akanes.

Infinite futures of pain and death.

"Of joy, too."

She looked up at the strangely elusive face. "Why are you

telling me this? Why?"

"You took a good choice for a name, Kaeri. Kaeri ni - on

the way home. Go home. Find that other broken soul, and help

him, for he needs your help more than the echoes of 2096.

You were born to serve, to nurture, to care, and he needs

that. You need that. Go home."

"But... father... Akane... Nabiki..."

"Are waiting for you, should you need them. But you

don't. That time is over, Kaeri. Go home. If you follow this

path you take, if you go on to do your deed, you will suffer

for it, and the one who truly needs you will suffer even

more. Go home. Before the graveyards of 2096 and it's ilk

become more your home than a kitchen full of sunlight and

laughter."

She shrank back, hearing truth in his voice. It was not a

pleasant fate he described, and it would be so nice to rest

for a while...to bring soup, to tidy rooms, to bake cookies,

to _love_...

No. Her duty was to her family. If that meant doing

without happiness... so be it.

"Not just that. Your soul."

She met his eyes.

"So be it."

Her hand tightened on the locket, and she summoned her

will. Save them. Damn Kasumi, she deserves it. Save...

Blue fire flared, and her chair was empty.

Noone slowly sipped his wine and stared at her seat for a

while. After a time, someone sat down in it.

The newcomer looked at him kindly. "You knew it wouldn't

work."

Noone shrugged. "I had to try." His voice was had changed

from the rough male baritone he had addressed Kaeri with. It

was now a clear, smooth female one.

"So does she."

'Noone' sighed, and raised her glass to her now obviously

feminine lips. "You know what will happen. I couldn't tell

her directly..."

"I know. Maybe things will turn out differently as a

result of your..."

"No. The Cafe has rules for these situations. There is

one clear choice, one path that leads away. If you don't

take it, nothing changes. She didn't take it."

"How do they manage that?"

She laughed. "Why don't lockets flare in the Cafe when

they come near each other? Who runs the place? Don't ask me.

It's just the way the Cafe Eternum is." Her glass had run

dry, and she poured a fresh draught. "She ran into Skeride,

you know."

"Oh? A nice girl, if you overlook..."

"Not _that_ Skeride."

"Ah. That one."

Silence for a while, and then the newcomer stood. "I've

got to check on my young charge. Take care of yourself,

dear."

'Noone' smiled. "Be careful."

He nodded, stepped sideways into nothing, and vanished.

"Excuse me?"

She turned, to see a spectral Akane looking up at her.

"Yes?"

"Can I possess you for a while? There's a Ranma in the

South Wing I'd really like to have dinner with..."

She shook her head. "I've got to go. Sorry." And with

that, she held up a locket, closed her eyes, and vanished in

a flash of cerulean fire.

The Akane sighed and slowly walked off, translucent shoes

scuffing the carpet. "Great. Another Saturday night, and I

ain't got no body..."

[[[[[[[[[[[[[[(*)]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]

He felt dizziness as disorientation took hold and spun

his senses around and blinded him with azure light. The act

of shooting across realities recklessly tended to do that.

By now, he'd felt this sensation more than a dozen times,

and was getting used to it.

Ryo Saotome was getting sick of it anyway. He didn't

_want_ to get used to it. He wanted this madness to end.

He wanted to go home.

And at this moment, he was really hoping for a normal

landing.

-POP-

He hovered in mid-air awkwardly, and unfortunately,

upside-down, and crashed on a hard, cold floor.

"Ow."

A second later, two quick bursts of azure flame heralded

the arrival of Ishido and Ratiko... right above him. In

that small space of a second before they landed on him, Ryo

wondered why, as of late, whenever he traveled with company,

there was a tendency for the landings to be rough.

-THUD- "Ow!"

-THUD- "Augh!"

"Will you guys get off of me?!" he yelled, his patience

already worn thin. He shoved a few unidentified limbs out

of his way as he struggled to get up, ignoring any feelings

he might've been bruising.

"Hey, back off," grumbled Ishido, yanking his leg away

from Ryo's arm. Along the way, it whacked Ratiko in the

face.

"OW! Hey, watch it!" whined the Hibiki.

"A-hem."

The three paused.

"Good evening, gentlemen."

Ishido and Ratiko froze, jaws hung low. Ryo, on the

other hand, summoned up his willpower and utterly refused to

be surprised. Instead, he brushed the dust off of his

travel-worn clothes, quickly combed his hair with a fold-up

comb he had in his pocket, straightened his jacket, and

said, in perfectly polite tones, to the six-armed gorilla in

a tuxedo...

"Good evening."

The gorilla seemed to approve of it. "May I ask if sirs

have a reservation?"

Ryo frowned. "Reservation... mmm... no. I'm afraid

we're here accidentally."

"Ah. I see."

"You wouldn't happen to have seen a woman somewhat taller

than me, with three fingers on one hand and a few facial

scars?"

The gorilla hmmed. "Well, yes, there was in fact a lady

of that description. She passed by about thirty minutes

ago."

Ryo frowned. Thirty minutes? "If you don't mind, we

really need to find that lady. Could we get in without a

reservation?"

The gorilla frowned and thumbed through a book. "Hrmm...

well... we do have some room... but sirs simply can't be let

in."

"Why not?" asked Ryo, trying to remain civil. "It is

_very_ important that we find this woman!"

"My apologies, sirs, but there _is_ a dress code."

Ryo sighed. Ishido and Ratiko were still marveling that

Ryo was negotiating with a multi-armed gorilla that,

apparently, had an aristocratic accent and was the doorman

of the place.

"However, if it IS important, the cafe DOES have a way

for you to be admitted."

Ryo raised an eyebrow. "Oh, is there?"

The trio stood, embarrassed, baffled, and naked as a

conveyer belt moved them down a long white hallway.

There was one exception: Ratiko still had his headband

on.

"Um, guys, what was this again?" he asked nervously.

"We're headed to the showers, I think," answered Ryo.

"I don't like this," said Ishido, looking around

suspiciously.

\- INITIAL SOAK CYCLE: BEGIN -

"Soak cycle?" asked Ratiko.

And then the large water cannons emerged from the walls.

"What the-"

*****FWOOSH******

"AAAGH! WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?!" yelled Ishido.

"The soak cycle, apparently," said Ryo.

"They could've used warmer water, dammit," replied

Ishido.

*SQUEAK*

Ryo and Ishido paused, then looked down between them

where Ratiko once was. In his place there seemed to be a

small fruit bat.

"So. Jusenkyou, huh?" asked Ryo.

The bat managed an embarrassed squeak.

-INITIAL SOAK CYCLE COMPLETE-

"Well, that was interesting," said Ryo.

-SOAP CYCLE: BEGIN-

"This can't be any worse than the soak cycle," said Ryo.

Ishido and Ratiko-bat looked at him doubtfully.

"Of course, I could be wrong."

Many small hoses mounted to mechanical arms lowered from

the ceiling.

Ryo frowned. "Oh not again."

-FWOOSH-

"EYOW!"

Soapy water slammed into them from all angles. The water

was, fortunately, enough to get Ratiko back to human form.

Otherwise, there wasn't much that was pleasing about the

experience of hot soap and water being sprayed at all odd

angles and occasionally up orifices that the men would

prefer to keep dry.

-SOAP CYCLE: COMPLETE-

Ryo wiped some foam from his eyes. "Well... that was...

ah..."

"A lot more violent than your usual shower, yeah,"

finished Ratiko. "What kinda shower is this?!"

-SECOND SOAK CYCLE: BEGIN-

"Ohnotagain," whimpered Ratiko.

They waited for the water cannons to appear.

Instead they fell.

Ratiko flapped his arms around, forgetting that he wasn't

a bat. "I REALLY HATE THIS SHOWERRRRRRRrrrrrr-" *SPLASH*

They felt dizziness as disorientation took hold. There

was much awkward splashing and blindness as water got in

their eyes. The act of being dropped suddenly into a giant

pool of warm water tended to do that to people.

The trio coughed and splashed about until finally they

felt the floor rise up to meet their feet.

"*COUGH* Well... *COUGH*COUGH* that was unexpected,"

grumbled Ryo. The others didn't talk. They wanted to kill

whoever designed the system.

Three small robots hovered into the room, each carrying a

tray and a towel. On the tray was a glass of tea.

/REFRESHMENTS, GENTLEMEN? TOWELS?/

What the heck, thought Ryo, why not? "Yeah, thanks." He

put the towel around his shoulders and held the beverage in

one hand. The others, following his lead, did the same.

"Now this... this is much better," said Ratiko with a

grin. He leaned on the edge of the pool and casually slurped

his drink. Ryo did the same, while Ishido looked around

nervously. In his eyes, the whole experience was bad so far

and this part was surely a trap meant to lower his defenses.

After five minutes soaking in warm water, he had his

doubts.

"Okay, we're soaked and soaked well, where's the exit?"

asked Ryo. Immediately after he spoke, a door previously

unseen opened with a big /EXIT/ sign in cheesy neon

letters appeared.

"That answer your question?" asked Ratiko.

-SECOND SOAK CYCLE: COMPLETE-

The three went through the door and found themselves,

once again, on a conveyer belt.

"Aw man, I got a bad feeling about this," whined Ratiko.

In front and behind the trio, large air vents suddenly

dropped.

-DRY CYCLE: BEGIN-

Ratiko 'eep'ed.

-FWOOOOOSH-

Hot air blasted them from front and back, pressing them

flat with incredible air pressure for an incredibly long

stretch of time.

Ishido really felt like hurting someone.

Ryo was getting used to the rough treatment by now, and

only rolled his eyes as he was blown about.

"WE'RE DRY! WE'RE DRY! TURN IT OFF!" yelled Ratiko.

-DRY CYCLE: COMPLETE-

"THANK YOU! Sheesh."

-YOU'RE WELCOME-

Ryo fidgeted slightly and pulled at his necktie. Ishido

bypassed the irritation and undid his entirely.

"I hate this," grumbled Ishido.

"It isn't so bad," said Ryo as he scratched at his neck.

Ratiko adjusted his slightly and brushed off some lint

from the fine ebony cloth. "Heh... you know the difference

between you guys and me?" he asked. "I make this outfit

look _good_."

Ryo sighed. Just great, he thought, the

trans-dimensional Diners In Black.

He tapped the two on the arms. "Time's wasting. C'mon,

let's go find her."

"How do you know she hasn't left yet?" asked Ratiko.

"I don't."

"Then... we're stranded?!"

"We'll confront that possibility when it comes. Until

then, I'm going on faith. You can either just stand there

gaping or do something useful. Now c'mon."

The three wandered from the lobby into a large dining

area, with a bar of seemingly infinite length running down

the side and fancy chandeliers everywhere. There was a

stage for a band, but they seemed to be on a break at the

moment. The sound of silverware clinking and people

chattering created a steady buzz.

"Fancy place," muttered Ratiko. He looked around

further. "And the people... er..." He watched, carefully,

as three Nabikis walked by, followed by two Elvises and

Akira Kurisawa.

"I don't like it here," said Ishido, almost in a snarl.

Ryo glanced at the table full of Egyptian kings and

sighed. "I'm trying not to be shocked anymore."

The three wove their way through the crowd carefully,

trying not to lose sight of each other. Ryo lead the way,

with Ratiko in the middle and Ishido bringing up the rear.

Unfortunately, with the crowds being thick and the noise

being high, Ishido found himself separated from the two. He

growled in frustration and tried to push his way through the

masses, but was soon entirely separated and lost in the sea

of people.

Ryo was getting that nagging feeling something was going

wrong. He turned back to Ratiko

"Hey, where's Ishi..."

Ishido was gone.

"...do..."

And so was Ratiko.

"Damn!"

He was alone.

Ryo tried not to scream in frustration as he wove his

way back, retracing his steps. Now was NOT the time for any

more delays. He wove around the tables and made his way

to the bar, where there was a walkway with a good view of

the room and a better flow of traffic.

Moving with the masses, he headed down the hallway once

more until a hand grabbed him by the shoulder.

"Hey, you."

The voice seemed eerily familiar. Then again, everyone

he'd met so far was eerily familiar, since they were usually

related to him in some trans-dimensional way.

He sighed. "Listen, I don't have time for..."

Their eyes met.

And Ryo Saotome met Ryo Saotome.

"Where on Earth am I now?!"

A passing penguin tapped him on the leg. Ratiko looked at

the animal. It had an oversized flesh colored beak, a red

bow tie, and was wearing a button that said "Opus 'N' Bill

in '92. This Time Why Not the Worst?"

"Yeah? What?"

"You're not on Earth. Just thought you should know."

Ratiko blinked. "Oh... thanks."

"No problem." The penguin waddled off, leaving the Rat

at a loss for words. After thinking things through for a

few minutes more, Ratiko tried again.

"Where in the Universe am I now?!"

This caused a passing waiter to pause.

"Hibiki?" he asked.

"Um, yeah."

"Ryouga Hibiki?"

"No, Ratiko. Ryouga's my ancestor."

"Ah, the Ratiko Hibiki group. Right. This way."

Having nothing better to do, Ratiko followed the waiter,

walking down the banquet hall/corridor for what seemed like

a strangely odd time.

"We almost there yet?"

"Yes sir."

That, thought Ratiko, was good.

"Where are we going anyway?"

"The Ratiko Hibiki group. You _are_ Ratiko Hibiki, are

you not?"

"Oh, yeah, I am." That seemed to make sense. He didn't

recall having a party, but the waiter's logic seemed sound.

Ratiko followed the waiter further, until at last they

came to a stop at a side booth enclosed by a curtain.

"Through the curtain, sir," said the waiter.

"Huh?"

"Your party, sir, through the curtain."

"Oh. Right. Um... thanks." Ratiko pushed the curtain

aside and walked nervously in. And then he nearly fainted.

Looking at him was a room full of Ratiko Hibikis.

"You lost too?" asked one of them.

At this point, he decided fainting would be a good thing

to do.

The Great Reiraku Hibiki party of Cafe Eternum was a

grand example of what happens when one isn't specific with

instructions in a restaurant that deals with the vagueness

of time.

Hibikis, by their nature, get lost. They get incredibly

lost. More than any beings in the realities, Hibikis tend to

cross dimensions and time barriers. A handful are bound to,

sooner or later, run into each other. Two particular

Hibikis, both being Reiraku, had one day made arrangements

to do lunch at the Cafe Eternum.

They had left instructions to the restaurant regarding

the matter.

It went, basically, like this.

Epsillion room reserved, Hibiki Reiraku. Will need

guidance to reserved area.

The staff interpreted said instructions as, basically, to

reserve a room and to toss any Reiraku Hibiki they found in

it.

The original two Ratiko Hibikis had long since left,

having grown irritated at the suddenly crowded room of

themselves. Since then, it had become a revolving door of

Ratikos. They didn't mind, since there was a drink and

snack bar as well as a neat view of the galaxy.

Woe be unto the last one out, though, since they were

going to be stuck with the bill...

One particular Ratiko, recently re-awakened, decided that

it was all a bout of temporary insanity and decided to

mingle and go with the flow until he was sane again.

"Hey, is that cheese dip?"

"Sure is."

"Cool. Pass it over, willya?"

After much wandering, Ishido ended up in a side room of

sorts, separated from the main room by a curtain.

What really set him on edge, however, was the occupants.

It seemed to be, in his eyes, a room full of Ryo

Muhoshin.

The Gosunkugi wing was still in a chaotic state following

the mess that had happened earlier. No one was sure exactly

how it started, they only knew that the tables were still

trying to bite their ankles off and the sprinkler system was

FINALLY off.

"Damn," said Gosunkugi #289, "what ELSE can go wrong

tonight?"

And then there was a growl.

There are many kinds of growls. There's the growl that a

chihuahua makes when it's threatening to piss on your shoe.

There's a growl that a dog makes when it wants you to stop

yanking on the collar.

This sort of growl was along the 'someone will die in ten

seconds' variety.

All the occupants of the room turned around... very...

slowly.

Ryo looked at his counterpart in silence, still surprised

by the turn of events. He knew that it was a possibility

that this sort of thing would happen, but it still didn't

prepare him for the event.

"C'mon, let's go to the bar," said his other self.

Looking him over, Ryo saw a few things immediately that

set them apart. The other was older by a few years, five

was his guess. The biggest difference, however, was how he

carried himself.

The other him seemed... tired.

"You're still chasing Muhoshin?" asked the other.

Ryo nodded.

"And you?" asked Ryo.

"I've... finalized things." He turned away from Ryo with

a dark expression on his face and ordered a drink. He

looked Ryo over and hmmed. "Bell-chan's still okay?"

"Yeah, the last time I saw her."

"Good, good. At least you have that."

"What do you mean by that?"

His alternate looked away. "Bell-chan... my Bell-chan...

she's dead."

Ryo suddenly felt a chill hit him. Bell-chan? Dead?

No. Oh no.

"It happened after a month of chasing him." The other

Ryo took a long drink, then closed his eyes. "I was chasing

the bastard through realities... and somehow he managed to

focus enough to land in mine. He killed Tachi and Godai,

then kidnapped Bell. Muhoshin wanted my locket in

exchange... when we made the trade he killed her anyway.

For five years after, I've been chasing him across the

realities, and I ended it all tonight."

"You stopped him?"

"I killed him."

Ryo blinked.

"Caught him while he was having one of those weird

epileptic fits of his. Snapped his neck. He never knew

what hit him. More than he deserved."

"You killed him?"

"Don't look so damned surprised! You don't know what

I've gone through! You haven't had to see all the people he

killed because you couldn't stop him in time! If you end up

in my shoes, pray that you don't, then you'd do the same!"

Ryo didn't reply. A month. It was after a month that he

went after Bell-chan. He'd been chasing Muhoshin for only a

few days now. He still had time.

He had to plan.

"The locket," said Ryo, "the one Muhoshin's got. The

last time I saw it, the thing was burned into his chest.

What's happening to him?"

"Chronal radiation. The locket he's got is older than

you even suspect, nearly at the end of its life. It's

spitting out enough chronal radiation to warp flesh and

really do some nasty things to the mind. When I finally got

to him, Muhoshin wasn't much more than a rabid dog. Be

careful, though. His link to the locket is stronger than

yours. Don't underestimate what he can do with that thing."

"What's the worst he could do?"

"Make a small town disappear."

"Oh... oh hell."

"That's where he said he sent them."

He was about to ask more questions, when there was a

sudden and familiar yell of rage.

It sounded very much Ishido-esque.

"Damn, that sounds all too familiar," muttered Ryo.

"Sounds like Ishido," said his alternate. "You'd better

go stop him before he goes and wrecks the place. Besides,

the last thing you want is to be tossed into their version

of a jail."

Ryo cut through the crowds as fast as he could, feeling

very much like a salmon going up a waterfall. Nearly

knocking over waiters and customers alike, he slowly but

surely made his way to the end of the crowded and noisy

corridor.

He paused a moment, took a few steps back, quickly walked

into a side room and winced.

"Hey, which one of you was with me?"

The room full of Ratikos blinked, except one sucking out

a can of cheese whip. That one paused, waved at Ryo, and

motioned for him to come over.

"Hey, Ryo! They got a snack bar here! Want some cheese

dip?"

Without a word, Ryo marched over, grabbed him by the tie,

and pulled him out of the room.

"Hey! What's the big deal?!"

"We don't have time for this," grumbled Ryo. "Don't get

los-"

There was a loud growl. It was followed by many screams

of terror. From a curtain many feet away, a body rocketed

forth. It looked very much like he was thrown.

"Oh no," muttered Ryo.

Another person was ejected forcibly from behind a

curtain. A third person scrambled away, yelling, "HELP!

PSYCHOTIC IN THE HOUSE!"

That person, and the two before him, were clearly

Gosunkugi-esque in nature, if not the man himself.

Considering how much Gosunkugi resembled Muhoshin, and

then add the odd surroundings and stress that Ishido was

going through, and Ryo had a really bad feeling about it.

He grabbed Ratiko's arm and stomped towards the

commotion. "C'mon, this way."

"That way? But that's where everyone else is running

_away_ from!"

"No kidding."

When the fifth Gosunkugi screaming his head off ran

through the foyer, the maitre'd knew exactly who was causing

the problem. He also knew who to talk to about it.

Leaving the head waiter in charge of the reservation

desk, he proceeded to the upper level bar of the east wing.

There he found a young woman dressed in black pants, a blue

turtleneck, and a tan sportjacket enjoying a friendly drink

with a woman dressed in red. He tapped the lady in the

sportjacket on the shoulder.

"Pardon me, Ms. Tsereba," said the Maitre'd. "But there

is a bit of a problem in the Gosunkugi Wing with one of the

members of your party. We were wondering if you could

assist us?"

The young woman looked at her watch and sighed. "They

just can't seem to stay out of trouble, can they? All right,

I'll need my gun, a pitcher of ice water and a copy of the

New York City Telephone Directory."

"The Yellow Pages, ma'am?"

"Better make it the residential listings. And make sure

it has the complete listings for all five boroughs. I'll

need the weight."

"Right away, Ma'am."

"Oh, and get me a private booth, please."

Ryo and Ratiko dashed into the room.

The first thing they noticed was the mountain of

Gosunkugis piled on top of each other all on one table. They

were conscious, quaking in fear, but conscious.

The reason they were quaking in fear was due to the fact

that Ishido was bouncing the head of one hapless Gosunkugi

repeatedly against another table. With the result that the

Gosunkugi in question, on the verge of passing out, now

believed himself to be "Tattoo" from Fantasy Island.

"I... WON'T... LET... YOU... HURT... CHILDRA!" Ishido roared,

redoubling his efforts.

"But, Boss... what is...Mr. Hubert's... fantasy?" said the

Gosunkugi between the impacts.

Rat and Ryo looked at each other.

"Jai-ken-po?" Rat asked. Ryo rolled his eyes.

"Just come on." he said. "Before he kills someone." The

two of them made ready to attack the lunatic assassin. But,

before they could do anything, an extremely thick book

sailed through the air, impacting neatly at the base of

Ishido's skull. The mentally unbalanced one's eyes rolled

back in his head, and he collapsed to the floor, releasing

the Gosunkugi, who also mercifully lapsed into

unconsciousness.

Ryo and Rat turned to find a young woman with long black

hair behind them standing next to the Maitre'd.

"Excellent shot, Ms. Tsereba." the gorilla commented.

Ms. Tsereba merely nodded. She turned her attention to the

two boys.

"Ryo Saotome?" Ryo nodded, frowning.

"Reiraku Hibiki?" Rat nodded, dumbfounded.

"And I assume the psychotic is Ishido Takashima. I've

been expecting you. If you'll follow me, please."

"Wait a second." Ryo said, stepping forward. "No offense

meant. We appreciate your help Ms.-"

"Tsereba. Reiko Tsereba." answered the woman.

"Ms. Tsereba." Ryo finished. "But, we're kind of in a

hurry. We're looking for-"

"A woman named Kaeri Tendo, right?" Reiko finished.

"Well, I'm afraid you're too late. She left about half an

hour ago."

"What?!" Rat shrieked. "She destroy it all! We've got to

find her."

"Not right now." said Reiko. "Right now, I need you to

come with me." Ratiko frowned at her.

"And why should we do anything you say?" he demanded.

Reiko glanced downwards. Rat and Ryo followed her gaze to

the pistol she held in her hand.

"You'll do it because this gun is loaded, and bullets

tend to make nasty holes." Reiko said, smiling. "Besides, we

have some business to discuss. So if you would care to

gather up your friend over there and follow me." Reiko

turned and spoke to the Maitre'd. Ryo sighed. And to think

this had all started out with such promise. He turned to get

Ishido, but Rat grabbed his arm.

"Are you seriously going to do what she says? Let's just

knock her out and get the hell out of here." the Hibiki

whispered. Ryo shook his head.

"I didn't hear her pull that gun out, did you?" he asked.

"No. So what?"

"So what it means is that she's pretty damn fast with

that thing. And in my experience, Fast Draw plus Gun plus

Martial Artist equals Dead Martial Artist. Got it?"

Rat thought for a moment.

"You get his arms, I'll get his feet." he said.

After a trip up three flights of stairs and through a few

dozen wings, Reiko led the two boys and their unconscious

friend to a large booth. As they got situated, Reiko pulled

the cord that closed the curtains of the booth.

"Okay," Ryo said. "We're here. Now what's this all

about?"

"First things first." Reiko said, picking up the water

carafe. She glanced at Ishido who was snoring slightly and

drooling on Rat's shoulder. "Sorry about this, Hibiki." she

said, turning the open mouth of the carafe towards Ishido.

Ratiko barely got out of the way in time.

After calming Ishido down and getting him a towel to dry

off with, Reiko produced a card. She tossed it to Ryo.

"I'm a representative of this organization. I've been

assigned to your case."

Ryo looked at the card, then back at her skeptically.

"The 'Save the Universe' Foundation?" he asked.

"What do you do? Prevent people from polluting the

spaceways with junk?" Rat asked, smirking.

"That's another branch." Reiko answered, frowning. "I'm

part of the branch that deals with reality hopping idiots

like yourselves."

"Hey!" Rat yelped. Ryo glared at him to keep quiet.

"So what are you going to do?" Ryo said. "Keep us from

jumping around anymore? Sorry, we can't oblige."

"I didn't expect you to. That's why I'm here. I'm a

Guide."

"A what?"

"A Guide." Reiko explained. "When a group of reality

hoppers like you makes a total mess out of every reality

they visit, my superiors sends a Guide to help them clean up

the mess. Especially if they've lost their means of

transport." She looked pointedly at Ryo.

"What about Kaeri?" Ratiko piped up. "She's on her way

to destroy my time! I won't exist!"

Reiko looked at Ryo. "Let me guess. He hasn't gotten

the concept of alternate realities yet, has he?" Ryo shook

his head.

Reiko sighed. "All right. In that case we'll just have

to stop her."

"And what about Muhoshin?" Ishido said coldly. Reiko

looked at him.

"What about him?"

"Aren't you going to help us do anything about

Muhoshin?"

"Sorry, friend," the Guide responded. "The SUF believes

in the old philosophy; 'You made the mess, you clean it up.'

I'll help you get the locket back from Kaeri, but after

that, you're on your own. Unless, of course, you totally

botch that bit, too."

"Fine." Ryo said, hoping to get on with it. "Where do

we go from here?"

Reiko reached into a pocket of her jacket and produced

a small brass disc. She pressed a hidden catch and the disc

opened like a pocket watch. Ryo noticed that the cover of

the item had the legend "Reality Is Not An Absolute"

engraved on it under a stylized design of seven hexagons

bordering on one another.

"What is that?" Rat asked.

"A Reality Compass." Reiko answered. "Standard issue

for all Guides." She turned it around to show them. The dial

had a standard compass face, only all the directions were

missing. Where "North" usually was were the words "Nerima

138."

"What's Nerima 138?" Ryo asked.

"It's where I live. You didn't think I spent all my

time here did you?" she turned the compass back to herself.

"Let's see... aha! Found her. Dimension 347890, Tendo dojo.

Ready?"

The three boys looked at each other and nodded. Reiko

turned an outside dial on the compass. There was a flash of

blue light.

[[[[[[[[[[[[[[(*)]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]

Contrary to the image that the authors have thus far

painted, crossing dimensional realities is not as easy as

crossing the street. A far more accurate analogy would be

that crossing dimensional realities is like crossing a busy

interstate highway at rush hour, where the majority of

traffic is taken up by enormous eighteen wheelers

transporting who knows how many crates of nitroglycerin and

unstable plutonium, and there's one rabid lunatic postal

worker on the opposite side with a bazooka looking to have a

bit of fun.

In the case of Ryo, Ishido, Rat, and Reiko, the rabid

lunatic postal worker had the name Kaeri on her name tag.

There was a flash and the next thing Ryo knew, he was

face down in something cold and wet. Then something landed

on him with a loud "OOF!"

"Get off of me!" the Saotome exclaimed. The weight rolled

off of him. Ryo got to his feet and looked around. Snow

blanketed the landscape for miles around. The four of them

were in a valley surrounded by huge mountains and glaciers.

There wasn't a single person besides them to be found.

"Everybody all right?" Reiko asked, brushing snow off

her jacket. There was a loud squeaking coming from a

snowdrift. Reiko reached in and pulled out a very annoyed,

very cold fruit bat.

"Oh, it's you." Reiko said. She tossed Rat to Ryo and

got out her compass.

"What happened?" Ishido asked. "This doesn't look like

Nerima to me."

"It isn't." Reiko said, consulting the compass. " We're

too late. Kaeri's already done whatever she planned to do."

"WHAT?!" Ishido roared. Reiko gave him a look.

"Relax, Childra's okay. Apparently, she found a nexus

point. She's just created a whole sub-dimension from the one

Childra and Batboy over there are from."

"What's a nexus point?" Ishido asked.

"Nexus points are events that occur in various

realities that can change the world in an instant." Reiko

explained. "But, if someone tries to change or prevent that

event from happening, it can have disastrous consequences."

"What sort of consequences?"

"The complete unraveling of time and space as we know

it." The guide answered. "Fortunately, the universe knows

better than to let that happen, so if an outside force

fiddles with that event, it compensates by giving them the

outcome they wanted, but lets them know that the original

event will still continue. I imagine Kaeri isn't too happy

right now."

"That still doesn't explain where we are, or how we

got here." Ryo pointed out.

"We were in transit when Kaeri's sub-dimension was

created. My compass is designed to keep up with the number

of dimensions out there. It recalibrates itself every time a

new dimension is created. Which means that when Kaeri did

whatever she did, the resulting 'shockwave' for want of a

better term, played hell with the compass, so it set us down

in the nearest dimension so it can recalibrate itself."

Reiko said.

"So where are we then?" Ryo asked.

"Iceplanet." Reiko responded. "It's a place where a

second Ice Age hit the Earth, but the human race managed to

survive. Don't worry, I've been here before."

"How long before we can leave? Kaeri may try something

else." Ryo said. Reiko checked the compass.

"We got hit with a pretty big shockwave." she said.

"It'll take time."

"How long?"

"About 24 hours."

"24 HOURS!" Ryo yelped. "She could do who knows how

much damage in that time! We can't wait that long!" Using

the speed he inherited from his parents, Ryo reached over

and plucked the compass from Reiko's palm.

"What in the hell are you doing?" Reiko demanded. "You

don't know how that thing works, we could end up anywhere!"

"It's better than freezing to death waiting for this

thing to decide to work!"

"And how do you know we won't end up someplace worse?"

"Could anyplace be worse than this?"

Suddenly, the group became aware of a distant

rumbling sound. It was too close to be thunder. There wasn't

a cloud in the sky. Reiko looked off into the distance.

"Ryo," she said quietly. "Give me the compass. We're

getting out of here."

"What is it?" Ishido asked. Ryo looked at the guide.

"No tricks?"

"No tricks." Reiko agreed. "Give me the compass."

The rumbling sound got closer. Ryo handed the compass

over. Reiko popped the lid and set the dial. The rumbling

was almost deafening by this point.

"Where are we going?" Ryo yelled above the din.

"What's going on?" Ishido hollered.

"We're going home and it's an avalanche!" Reiko yelled

back. She twisted the dial and the four of them vanished

just as a wall of snow slid down from the mountains and

blanketed the area they had just been standing.

[[[[[[[[[[[[[[(*)]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]

Muhoshin appeared about three feet off the ground, and

proceeded to land on his behind on a cobblestoned street. A

cobblestoned street of an oddly familiar style...

He looked around. London. He was back in the London of

the barbarian Queen Victoria. Damn it all, this was NOT

where he had been wanting to go...

Wait.

Wasn't that a Ryouga walking by?

Picking himself up, Muhoshin padded after his quarry,

idling wondering what the hell Hibiki was doing here, years

before he was supposed to be born. Perhaps he was another

reality jumper? The thought sent a shiver of pleasure down

his spine; killing Ryougas, while satisfying, didn't

really... mean much any more. They weren't _real_, not

really. Kill one, and there were plenty more. But a

jumper... That was different. They were unique.

There. Hibiki had turned into a alley. Cat-quiet,

Muhoshin followed, noting with pleasure that it was empty.

He cleared his throat, and Ryouga turned.

"Ready to die, Hibiki?" he said. Or tried to say.

o/~ Oh hated hated hated enemy o/~

o/~ It's time to shuffle off this mortal coil o/~

o/~ For sadly sadly sadly do you see o/~

o/~ Your existence I shall lance like a boil! o/~

o/~ Prepare to die... o/~

Ryo blinked. THAT certainly wasn't what he had meant to

say, and where the hell did that music come from?

o/~ Your plans I'll foil," Ryouga sang back, o/~

o/~ For although I'm afraid I know you not o/~

o/~ Your murderous plans and toil o/~

o/~ Against me shall come to naught! o/~

o/~ For you see... o/~

o/~ What do I see? o/~

o/~ For you see... o/~

o/~ WHAT DO I SEE? o/~

o/~ You face the mighty Ryouga Hiiiiibikiiiiiii! o/~

o/~ I face the mighty Ryouga Hibikiiiii!o/~ chorused

Muhoshin, backing up a step. What the hell? Why was he

chorusing? NO CHORUS, he mentally yelled at his mouth, which

ignored him.

Right then. He wasn't certain, but he suspected killing

his old enemy would give him back control of his mouth.

o/~ I'll have your head and see you dead, o/~

o/~ Oh source of my miiiiisery o/~

o/~ The street I'll flood with your lifeblood o/~

o/~ YOU DIE NOW, HIBIKIIIIIIII!" o/~

A nice swipe, he thought. Ryouga didn't even try to

dodge, just reached for a pistol at his belt. His hand had

almost reached it when Ryo's blade slid into his chest.

"I breathe my last..." gasped the Ryouga

o/~ You breathe your last!o/~ Muhoshin gleefully sang,

as the music swelled grandly and died with his opponent.

Wiping the blood from the tip, he strode back out onto

the street, smiling. He had never killed to opera before,

and he found it a novel and satisfactory experience. If

somewhat puzzling.

Glancing about at his fellow pedestrians, he noticed that

they were gesturing somewhat dramatically when they talked.

And a bit of music, ever so vaguely, came from each...

It would seem that this reality had a soundtrack, and

made it's dwellers conform to it. How novel.

o/~ Alms, Alms o/~

o/~ For a miserable womaaaaaaaan o/~

o/~ On a miserable... chilly... morning... o/~

He turned, startled. He had heard that voice before...

Well, well. Akane Tendo, clothed in rags and looking

decidedly out of her head. How the mighty have fallen.

"Off, I say! To the devil with you!" Odd. No singing,

although a burst of rather bleak music did accompany it.

Akane glared at him, and hurried off.

No, he'd had enough of this place, amusing as it was.

He'd depart for more normal climes...

The odor of fresh okonomiyaki wafted past, and Muhoshin

stopped in his tracks. Hmm.

He'd depart. Right after he had a bite to eat.

Ryo Muhoshin stared at the shop he was approaching in

disbelief.

/Ucchan's Okonomiyaki/, proclaimed the sign. Tables and

benches, filled with Londoners, stood in front. And there,

he noted, was Kuonji herself. Singing. Of course.

o/~ Gosling! o/~ she sang. Muhoshin snarled, then

noticed that she wasn't looking in his direction...

"Yes, mum?" returned Hikaru Gosunkugi, appearing out of

a alcove.

"Ale there!"

"Right, mum!"

[Mum?] wondered Muhoshin.

"GOD THAT'S GOOD!" bellowed the customers.

o/~ Have another yaki, o/~ Ukyou sang.

o/~ No, we don't do take-out o/~

o/~ Ain't they very tasty? o/~

o/~ Gosling! One for the gentleman o/~

o/~ Spatulated nicely o/~

o/~ Tender but not flaky o/~

o/~ Gosling! Throw the old beggar out! o/~

Muhoshin watched as Gos ushered a protesting Akane away.

o/~ GOD THAT'S GOOD! o/~

Hmm. This posed a problem. If he became a customer, did

that mean he would have to join in the song as well? Not

good at all. Perhaps there was somewhere else he could-

His eye fastened on the sign for the shop a floor above

the Ucchan's. /Saotome Ranma, Barber/

The mighty Saotome, perhaps the most fearsome fighter Ryo

knew. The father of his enemy. A barber.

Muhoshin grinned. His hair was getting a tad long anyway,

and the humiliation value was priceless. Ranma was probably

a top-notch barber here, too.

Something nagged at him, but he quickly shrugged the

feeling off. Maybe he'd have to sing, yeah, so? A real

barbershop quartet.

o/~ Eat them slow, o/~ sang Gos and Ukyou.

o/~ And taste the yummy flavor of it o/~

o/~ Eat them slow o/~

o/~ Coz every one's a prize o/~

o/~ Eat them slow o/~

o/~ Coz that's the lot and now we're sold it o/~

o/~ Come again tomorrow... o/~

"Hold it," Ukyou muttered, watching Muhoshin walk up the

stairs to the barbershop and knock on the door. Ranma

promptly answered it.

"Right this way, sir," Saotome intoned.

Ukyou grinned.

o/~ Bless my eyes o/~

o/~ Fresh supplies! o/~

o/~ Gosling! Warm up the oven! o/~

Ranma ushered Muhoshin into the chair, a fancy-looking

metal contraption, and began mixing a bowl of lather. "And

what may I do for you, sir?"

The great Ranma Saotome, calling him sir in an ever-so-

humble tone. Ryo grinned.

o/~ I am, sir, a man with higher tastes o/~

o/~ My business you might say is grave o/~

o/~ So fetch the pomade and pumice stone o/~

o/~ To give me a suitably dapper tone o/~

o/~ A sprinkling, perhaps, of fine cologne o/~

o/~ But first, sir, I think - a shave. o/~

"The closest I ever gave," Ranma finished, smiling. He

began to apply the lather to Muhoshin's face, whistling

happily as he did. Ryo leaned back a bit, and began to

whistle along with him. Quaint, this.

After covering the face before him with white froth,

Ranma took out a rather large, silver-chased razor and began

the business of shaving. Muhoshin, who had been almost

drowsy, came awake. Having a blade that close to his neck

made him decidedly nervous...

o/~ And are you beautiful, with hair o/~

o/~ As black as raven wing, like her? o/~

o/~ I think you'd have such raven hair o/~

o/~ The way I dreamed you were o/~

o/~ Miyabi... o/~ Ranma sang, his razor flourishes

becoming more and more artistic.

Muhoshin started. Miyabi? Must be a common name, but why

on Earth was Ranma singing like...

On pure instinct, he caught Ranma's hand just before the

razor could be drawn across his throat. Ranma gave a puzzled

frown, pushed Ryo back into the chair with his free hand,

and kept moving the razor towards his throat.

Panicked, Muhoshin tried to keep the blade away... but

Saotome was stronger than him, and his other hand was

pinned...

That questing other hand fell upon a lever of some sort,

set into the side of the chair. Maybe it lowered the chair

back... the razor was only millimeters away, now, and Ranma

was smiling in a horribly vacant way...

He pulled the lever, and was very surprised to have the

bottom of the chair give way, tumbling him down a metal

chute. He landed on something soft, and quickly surveyed the

room he had fallen into.

It was the bakehouse of the Ucchan's, with a roaring

oven, a grill, and... what was he sitting on?

Hmm. A dead body. With it's throat cut.

Muhoshin looked at the meat ready for the okonomiyakis,

looked back at the body, and was suddenly very, very glad he

hadn't eaten lunch here. This has ceased to be novel.

Blue fire flared, and he was gone.

[[[[[[[[[[[[[[(*)]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]

Kaeri stumbled out of the light, her face dripping with

sweat. The locket was fighting her. She could feel it.

Trying to stop her. Leading her astray.

She had faltered, there in the Cafe Eternum. The words

had almost turned her aside. Almost. She had a purpose, and

the purpose was the Work, and the Work was her Family, and

her Family was All. This nightmare of 2096 would fall in

ruins, disappear like blown dust, vanish like a bad dream.

And Reiraku would fall with it.

But she needed her bearings, needed to know where was

where and when was where...

Her eyes opened. The dojo. She was in front of the dojo,

on a fine, sunny day.

A voice, inside. Happosai? It had to be. This had to be

the start of that hell-timeline, where the demon was

wrenched from its pit by the horrible little pervert. Her

grip tighted on the staff, and the locket sputtered

slightly. He dies. She would wipe the future clean with his

foul little life.

Silently, she walked inside.

"Ranma-kun, you disappoint me."

Kaeri's lip curled in disgust at the sound, her eyes

adjusting to the dim light. Kasumi, happy happy WORTHLESS

Kasumi. Ranma had probably forgotten to put his laundry in

the basket, or something equally...

A tanto, she was holding a tanto to his stomach, what...

"Mother disappointed me, too," said happy happy Kasumi as

she thrust the blade slowly into Ranma's stomach.

The blood ran down the blade, Kaeri noted, and the blade

was connected to the handle, and the handle was connected to

Kasumi, who was watching Ranma stare at her in glassy,

helpless horror. Kasumi smiled. And smiled.

"I told her I was ready to run the household for her, but

she would just smile at me and say that I could run my own

house..."

"NO!"

Kasumi jerked around, sliding the tanto out of its

resting place in Ranma's belly. "Oh my. What are you?"

Numb, feeling strangely ill, Kaeri advanced. "What are

you?"

"I'm Kasumi Tendo. Oh dear. What happened to your face?"

"You're not Kasumi. You're not me."

Kasumi smiled reprovingly at her. "I certainly am

Kasumi... it looks like you are too, which is strange. Are

you from the future?"

No, no, no, she would never have done that, never...find

out, she had to find out somehow..."What...what's the name

of the bear on my dresser?"

"Mr. Buttons! Although he's on the bed, not the dresser."

Her teddy bear. She had named him that. And she hadn't

told anyone, not even Mommy. It was her special name for

him. Hers.

"Are you here to warn me about the future?"

"Mother wasn't sick here, was she." It was a statement,

not a question.

Kasumi laughed, the sound musical, bearing peace and

serenity. "Mother was too healthy. She didn't understand

that it was our turn. We were meant to do the Work."

She tried to grasp it. Tried. Mother had been healthy.

Would have lived. But Kasumi couldn't wait.

SHE couldn't wait.

It's not me, she told herself. Not me.

Yes it is, replied Mr. Buttons. You.

The smiling, gentle, happyhappyhappy Kasumi turned. "I'd

better finish Ranma-kun. Afterwards, I'll make some tea and

we can talk. Everyone else is asleep, so..."

Filth. Obscene. Kasumi was a stain, you clean stains, you

wipe them out, you scrub them away...

Kaeri leapt, the blade sliding from the end of her

outstretched staff. As if she expected it, Kasumi darted to

the left, the tanto held in a knife fighter's grip.

"Damn you. You evil, sick _thing_. You had everything

important, and you KILLED her."

"I had nothing! I was just another daughter. Someone to

do what they told! Now, now, I tell them everything...I run

the house, their days, their lives...me! US!"

And the worst thing was that it was true. Us. She had

enjoyed being the head of the house. Overseeing things.

Giving orders. Us. And it was all she had ever wanted to

do. Us. Both of them.

Was she any different from Kasumi? If Mommy had lived,

would she have...

Kasumi sensed her distraction and struck, knife thrusting

in short, vicious arcs. Kaeri barely had enough time to

bring the staff up to avoid being disemboweled.

The battle was short, crazed, a nightmare of blind fury

and instinct. Kasumi kept clawing ever inward, fighting with

hands, tanto, and teeth, while Kaeri found herself

frantically trying to get her doppelganger at arm's reach,

where her staff would be effective.

There was a bad moment for her, when Kasumi had gotten

her free hand around her neck, the smiling, empty face

leering into hers. She wrenched loose, Kasumi's fingernails

leaving bloody trails along her throat. It was only a matter

of time, time and focus, before one of them made a

mistake...

The moment came. Kaeri's leg swept out to trip her

double, and with a strength born of desperation she pushed

Kasumi away. Her hand stabbed the button controlling the

needle, and she thrust towards the leg of the charging,

snarling, dreamy- eyed murderer...

"BAKUSAI TEN-SATSU!"

The first stab to piece the leg didn't do anything.

Neither did the second. The third was right on target.

Kasumi's femur exploded as the needle hit the breaking

point, sending her crashing to the ground with a shriek of

agony. The tanto fell from her hand, skidding across the

floor to land at the base of some piled practice mats.

Kaeri stepped forward. Time to finish it.

"Let's... oh my...talk about this...you won't really kill

me..."

"The world will be a better place for it."

"Mr. Buttons! That's...ahhh...the name of the bear! The

teddy bear!"

"I know." She raised the staff, positioning the blade.

"He had a green cap. Mother knitted it for us."

"I'm you! You can't do it! You're killing yourself!" The

blade rose, a hungry gleam sparkling along the edge. "I'M

ONE OF YOU! I AM YOU!"

"THEN THERE CAN BE ONLY ONE OF US!"

The staff came down. It made a noise like slicing a

watermelon, Kaeri thought, watching Kasumi's head fall to

the floor. The carvings on the staff flared, the red light

matching the gouts of blood flowing from the corpse in the

yellow dress. And now, she had to kill Ranma.

She raised the blade once more, watching him stare with a

sick, uncomprehending horror at her...

Ranma? Why was she...

Kill him! Kill him!

Why was she about to kill...

KILL HIM!

She lowered the staff, horrified at the incredible urge

she had to chop him to bloody rags.

Ranma, poor Ranma looked worried. And he was bleeding,

too. She carefully tore off part of Kasumi's apron, and made

a makeshift bandage.

"I'll call an ambulance, Ranma-kun, and they'll make you

all better. All better."

He managed to make a low, mewling sound. The poor boy was

still scared, silly boy, nothing to fear, nothing at all.

"Kasumi can't hurt you, Ranma-kun. She's all better, and

I won't hurt you. See?" Picking the head up by the long,

flowing hair, she held it up to him.

Ranma made gurgling noises. Kasumi's head smiled at him,

and dripped.

Patting him on the shoulder, she set it on top of the

corpse's apron and watched the blood congeal for a few

minutes. Then she went to summon help.

The phone was lying on the floor of the living room,

carelessly dropped. The dispatcher assured her that an

ambulance would be sent, and he seemed to know what he was

talking about. Ranma would be fine, just fine.

The naughty, naughty locket wasn't taking her to the

right place.

"Now, listen," she said in her best cheerful-but-firm

voice. "You will take me to this 2096 dimension, the one

Reiraku is from. You will put me in a position to kill

Happosai before he can kill them all, kill them with the

thing, the demon. You will do this and YOU WILL NOT DRAG ME

THROUGH THIS AGAIN! DAMN YOU!" And the monsters jumped out

from the walls and the Kasumis scrubbed and hummed and

whistled and danced without heads and the staff howled and

spun and cleansed...

Above, a sick and dizzy Akane awoke to the sound of

shrieking and crashing. As she unsteadily descended the

stairs, an eruption of blue light blinded her for a second.

She noticed the near-total destruction of the living room

almost immediately. She found the dojo only seconds before

the ambulance arrived, and for a minute the paramedics were

worried that the sedative wouldn't kick in.

[[[[[[[[[[[[[[(*)]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]

Kasumi was in a daze.

Having your mother's ghost telling you she hates you does

that.

Couldn't hide in her room forever. Everyone would worry.

Couldn't have people worry; it would give them wrinkle

lines.

But she really didn't know what to do. This was beyond

her experience. She was really confused.

Having your niece from another universe screaming for her

father in the throes of orgasm does that.

Kasumi buried her head under a pillow.

So what was she to do?

This was the sort of thing not covered in the Housewife's

Little Handbook. Somehow, they seemed to have missed the

section on this kind of thing. She couldn't think of

anything about daughters loving their fathers

inappropriately. Poo. Maybe there was something else she

could find.

She mentally flipped through the little handbook.

Nothing. There MUST be something she could do. After all,

she had to keep the family together.

Together.

Right. Family together. If they wanted to show their

togetherness like that, who was she to say no?

Still, it bothered her. Something should be done.

Something she could do. She mentally flipped through her

little Housewife's Handbook for things to do when something

was beyond comprehension.

Maybe chopping a few vegetables might help. Yes, that's

right. Those nice long sharp knives in the kitchen. They'd

help her feel better. After all, chopping things always DID

help her a lot. And it was almost time for lunch. Maybe

cooking would help her aching head. Yes, perhaps that was

what she needed, time to think? Yes. Now what to make...?

Ah. Cold sliced pork for lunch might do nicely.

Miyabi sighed as she headed down to lunch. After all the

recent chaos, she realized, it was even more important to

make sure that her parents got together.

Ranma HAD to marry Akane, if Miyabi's reality was to come

about. And if it didn't...

Well, she _really_ hoped she wouldn't be around to see if

a future with that (%*# (*%# Ratiko could happen in this

reality.

She silently admonished herself for cursing, and for

thinking such bad thoughts as that about the little ratbat.

After all, if her plan worked, she would never ever have to

see that little piece of excrement again. She smiled as she

headed into the dining room.

There was everyone. Daddy. Mum. Grandpa Soun, and

Grandpa Genma. And of course, Auntie Nabiki was probably out

taking perverse pleasure in the Art of the Deal. Wait,

where was Auntie Kasumi? Oh there she was, just coming in

from the kitchen.

Miyabi smiled to herself. This was such a nice pleasant

family gathering. She hoped there would be more of them in

the future. Mentally, she smacked herself. Of COURSE there

would be more of them! After all, her tapes, the ones she

was going to send to all Ranma's fiancees, were going to

help show everyone that Ranma really DID love Akane. And

they would all give up and let her parents get together like

destiny always meant it to be. It'd work, it had to work,

so that everyone could have a happy sappy warm and fuzzy

ending. After all, love conquers all, right?

She giggled to herself. Kasumi looked at her curiously.

It looked like a good lunch. Then again, Kasumi always

made good lunches. It was Auntie Kasumi, after all. And

that cold sliced pork looked absolutely delicious. Even if

there wasn't that much pork on the plate.

Wait, why was Auntie giving her those strange looks?

Miyabi frowned, then shrugged to herself. Kasumi hadn't

been feeling well lately after all...

Miyabi smiled at Kasumi. "It looks delicious, Auntie!"

Kasumi absentmindedly smiled, a strange and vacant smile

empty of any true cheerfulness.

Miyabi looked down at the table and sighed. Then she

smiled as she reached out for several choice bits of pork

and veggies with her chopsticks. Maybe Auntie Kasumi would

feel better soon. Check that, definitely feel better soon.

After all, a lot of Auntie Kasumi's troubles would be gone

once she got the tapes to Ranma's other fiancees.

Miyabi paused. She picked up a bit of pork with her

chopsticks and put it in her mouth, chewing thoughtfully.

Hmm. How was she going to deliver those tapes to the

other fiancees? Mail? Overnight delivery? UPS? Carrier

Pigeon?

Ah well, she was sure she could find something.

You know, the pork was pretty tasty. Thin, smooth,

tender... not tough at all. Must have been quite a young

pig.

Wait, what was that horrible bawling sound?

Miyabi blinked, and looked around. Why was Grandpa Soun

screaming and tearing his hair out? Oh no, Daddy's chokin'

on something... Oh good. Mum's helping him out. Wait, why

is Mum hitting him? Why is she screaming "PERVERT!"?

Miyabi slowly grew aware of Kasumi's stare. "What?"

Kasumi said, without a trace of ingenuity in her voice,

"I said, I hope you and Ranma have been using protection.

You did, didn't you?"

Miyabi blinked, then realized with a sinking feeling what

Kasumi had done with that one question.

Kasumi had destroyed all her plans and hopes, and trod

on them with dainty little slippers.

Kasumi didn't understand why Miyabi and Ranma were quite

vocally denying it all. After all, there was nothing wrong

with closeness between father and daughter, was there? Even

if, she had to admit, it bothered her a little.

She frowned a little. Her harmony was disturbed. She

needed a nap.

But she had to make sure that Ranma and Miyabi understood

that, if they couldn't abstain, they really should be

practicing safe sex. After all, if Ranma had another child

through his daughter, Kasumi thought, she'd never be sure

whether to call the child a nephew or a grand-nephew, or a

nephew once-removed. Or a niece, or a grand-niece or...

"But Auntie! Grandpa! Grandpa! We REALLY didn't do

anything!"

"See, you uncute tomboy? Stop doing that!"

"PERVERT! BAKA! With OUR DAUGHTER?! *WHAM*"

"WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!"

This was going to give her a migraine if the chaos didn't

stop.

Kasumi quietly *AHEMED*.

Everyone stopped and looked at her.

Kasumi gave her friendliest smile. "Now, Miyabi,

Ranma... it's all right to love. Just be sure you do it

safely."

Ranma turned quite red in the face. "I DIDN'T DO

NOTHIN'!" Goodness, that vein in his head didn't look

good at all. She smiled warmly at him, hoping to get Ranma

to calm down.

Miyabi put her head in her hands. Then suddenly, she

ran out of the room.

Kasumi blinked. She looked at everyone else, then walked

over to her father. "Now, now, father..."

Miyabi came running back into the room, holding a few

audio tapes. "See? This will show you all what happened!"

Everyone didn't understand, Kasumi realized. Well,

except herself.

Kasumi smiled. "It was nice of you to record your love

and share it with us, Miyabi."

Kasumi blinked. She really didn't understand why

everyone was making such a big fuss over such a perfectly

wonderful thing.

Maybe she really should go take that nap now.

Miyabi sulked outside the Tendo dojo. Beside her was a

large trash can.

She had played the tapes for everyone. She had to. She

explained how she was trying to make sure her parents got

together. She explained how she had spliced Ranma's words

together using Nabiki's audio equipment, and pretended she

was Akane and make everyone think that Ranma and Akane were

really in love. And she had explained how she was trying to

scare off the other fiancees using the tapes, hoping to make

them give up.

Genma and Soun were alternately bemoaning how deceitful

Miyabi's act was and berating each other for not thinking of

it themselves. But what made Miyabi's heart ache the most

was the sight of Ranma and Akane looking everywhere except

at each other.

It wasn't much condolence that Kasumi had apologized,

Miyabi thought.

After all, her parents were no longer speaking to her.

Leaving her in this strange reality, one that was nothing

like the warm and comfortable reality she had grown up in,

where everyone loved each other and were very happy and

mushy and sappy.

Here, nothing was like what she knew. Not Dad-... no.

Ranma didn't love Akane here, so she couldn't call him

Daddy. Not Mu... Akane either. Everything was too

different. Here, everyone hated each other.

Including her.

She had never felt so alone in her life.

Sighing, Miyabi looked at the matchbox she was holding.

She took out a match, and lit it. She stared at the burning

match briefly, then slowly put it in the trash can.

She watched as her papers, her tapes, her notes...

everything she had ever used in trying to put her parents

tog-

No.

No, they weren't her parents. They were two strangers

who she had thought she knew.

And quietly, as she watched her hopes and dreams go up in

smoke, Miyabi began to cry.

[[[[[[[[[[[[[[(*)]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]

The locket was an odd device, with all sorts of quirks,

flaws, and annoying features. But, when you came right down

to it, operating it was pretty simple. You just pictured

something in your mind, summoned your will, and commanded

the locket to take you there.

Sometimes, if the locket picked up especially strong

images, it would ignore the bits about "will" and "command",

and just take you places.

Sometimes, if another mind nearby was thinking strongly,

the locket would attempt to please both people. And

inevitably fail.

Sometimes, when other strong magic was nearby, the locket

would be affected.

Sometimes, if the mental processes of the user were

incredibly strong and, at the same time, completely

uncontrolled... the locket would have a hard time stopping.

In the terribly long and terribly confusing and

annoyingly circular history of the locket, these conditions

have only twice occurred all at once.

KaesumiiiiiiTENDOKaseri was her name and the world was

blackgreyred and the seas were blood and the blood came in

seas and the foes were legion and all of them were her, her,

her with her face and hands stained redcrimson though she

tried to wash them off but IT WOULDN'T COME CLEAN WHY WON'T

THEY COME CLEAN still still still there was work that needed

doing, yes yes yes, mustn't forget or they're dead why did

they did I kill them maybe just possibly it seems so NOT ME

NOT NOT NOT NOT kill them no no no KILL THEM no I won't KILL

THEM-

She ran down down down the maze of twisting walls that

bled bright red, and there was something following her. You

don't want to turn, she knew, you don't want to turn and

look because it will be something you really verymuch don't

want to see, no no no. But she looked anyway, and, of

course, it was the Dead running behind her.

She took a left at the pile of charred sisters, and

brushed blue fire from the sleeve of her apron as she walked

through the dojo. The things with claws and fangs left off

gnawing a femur and chased her across the kitchen until she

dived into a pool of cool light, and surfaced in a black

cistern somewhere under the bones of the earth. For a little

over a year she trod water and tried to stop thinking,

but the chittering grew louder and louder and the grub-white

hands began pulling her under, so she left.

The sun shone red and guttering, and the hill she strode

upon began to burn. Ranma was already gone, poor boy, and

the red in his shirt turned alive as flames began to engulf

the body. Weaponsfire in the distance, screams and screams

and screams and turquoise flame...

The box was closing in on her, so she tore her way out

with her good good staff, and flung the cardboard pieces

across the alley. A vagrant looked up, startled out of her

repose.

"Shh," said KaTendoMiRi, "go back to sleep, Nabiki-chan."

Nabiki took a long pull from the bottle of sake, and fell

back into a world far away from rotting clothing and

streetdeath. Kaersumi began to stumble away, away, not nice

to watch Nabiki-chan drink and decay...

So she stumbled into a warehouse, where Akari's corpse

dangled from a gaff hook set in the ceiling, and drew a map

in the pooling blood to find her way. After a while the map

was true, and when the halo of blue cleared she was in the

City of Dead Names.

The streets were paved with skulls, and they had raised

the spires with the bones of ancestors. But it was empty,

and she wandered for a time down the boulevards and

fountains, past the banks of lilies, under bridges of cold

iron. In time the wind began to tell her things, but then it

occured to her that wind couldn't talk. So she was probably

in the wrong place, she reasoned, and turned right out the

Gate of Sun's Exit.

She walked through the train and found her seat, and

watched Muhoshin-san and Ryouga play at cards. The maggots

began to catch up with the train, and soon her car would be

consumed...

...Muhoshin-san?...

So she began to get up and...

...what? Where...who...

She walked out the aisle and up the stairs as Akane's

screams mingled with the ratatatatat of gunfire...

...no, it's not like this, who am I...

of gunfire, but she was proof against bullets, and would

turn and sweep them...

..I am...

sweep them and their...

Kae..

and their owners...

Kaeri.

For the last damn time, 2096.

Blue fire exploded, and died away to reveal a graveyard.

Out of an odd compulsion, she looked at the nearest

tombstone.

SAOTOME RANMA - 1980-1996

"No," she said. "Back. You know when."

The stone grew brighter, and the wear of years faded, and

the grass grew shorter.

And for the blink of an eye, Akane's face, wearing more

pain and grief than anyone could ever comprehend. Anyone but

her.

The gravestone vanished, and Kaeri smiled. Maybe they

would bury Happosai here, after she got done with him.

The thought comforted her as she fell into a black sleep.

[[[[[[[[[[[[[[(*)]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]

This... now this was puzzling.

He didn't know how, he didn't know why, but Ryo Muhoshin

found himself standing deep within a majestic city made

entirely of crystals.

Muhoshin looked around at the people walking by. They

seemed rather pleasantly happy. It was all utterly

disgusting to him.

There was sickening pleasantness and happiness was

everywhere, in the air, in the people, in the clouds above,

in the crystals...

The crystals?

He looked around again.

Everywhere he looked, breaking points. In every square

meter of the place, a nice loud breaking point shone to his

senses.

The pitfalls of making a city made of crystal, he mused.

The reason he was here suddenly became clear.

Recreation.

"Heheheh."

He cracked his knuckles, strolled up to a crystal tower,

then touched it.

The tower cracked, then shattered in an impressive

explosion that sent crystal bits everywhere and happy

civilians screaming in terror.

Muhoshin waded through the rubble, a maniacally happy

look on his face. That, he thought, was quite a rush. He

took off in a mad dash down the street, striking breaking

points as he went, resulting in a wave of crystal

destruction following his heels. He sprang into the air,

umbrella twirling in a blur, then launched a spray of

ki projectiles aimed at breaking points across his field of

vision.

Buildings, streets, all shattered in one thunderous

crescendo as the citizens of this crystal city ran screaming,

a song of mayhem that lifted Muhoshin's soul. Only killing

Ryouga made him feel as good as this.

He _grinned_.

"Stop!"

Muhoshin raised an eyebrow and turned around. In a

menacing (well, a good attempt to be menacing) pose, a girl

with pink hair tied in two ponytails stood.

"What are you doing?!"

"Having fun," he mumbled.

"You're destroying the city!"

"Mm-hm."

"You take pleasure in destroying our paradise? In the

name of the Moon, I will punish you!"

"You must be kidding."

AN HOUR LATER...

Muhoshin took a deep breath, then sighed happily. Those

Sailor girls, they were quite a workout. He hadn't beaten

them, but they didn't touch him either.

He did, however, manage to destroy most of the city

before they chased him away to the barren outskirts. At the

moment, he was taking refuge behind a boulder and catching

his breath.

"Hold it right there, mister!"

He blinked.

Surrounding him, flying in the sky, a squadron of Sailor

Warriors circled.

"Well, this's ALL been fun, but I do think I'll be

running now," said Muhoshin.

"No you won-"

"BAKUSAI TEN-KETSU!"

Rocks, dirt, and a massive cloud of dust burst from where

he stabbed the crystal earth, obscuring him from view

entirely. Within the clouds there was a brief flicker of

blue followed by a hollow roaring sound.

The Sailor Warriors struck with fire, ice and lightning,

but once the cloud dissipated the only thing they saw was

the crater at the center of the explosion, a tiny speck of

blue fire that quickly disappeared, and mocking laughter

drifting in the wind.

[[[[[[[[[[[[[[(*)]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]

Ryo Saotome &amp; company found themselves in a modestly

furnished apartment. Ryo and Ishido looked around in

surprise. Compared to all the places they'd been recently,

something this normal was like being on another planet.

"Where are we?" Ishido asked. Reiko took off her jacket

and hung it on a coat peg.

"I told you, home." she said. "Specifically, my home.

You didn't think I spent all my time at the Cafe, did you?

Do you want some tea?" the Guide vanished into the kitchen.

Ryo followed her.

"Wait a second." he said, as Reiko put a kettle on to

boil. "What do you mean, your home?"

"This is my apartment. It's one of the few places we

could get to without having to worry about the compass

freezing up. Otherwise, we'd have to go back to the Cafe

and I don't think Ishido would be very welcome there."

"Can I ask why we're here, instead of out tracking down

Kaeri?" Ryo frowned.

"Look, I explained that already. Right now,

cross-dimensional travel is not a viable option until the

compass recalibrates itself. Thanks to our emergency

departure from Iceplanet, we've got to wait at least 30

hours before we can go anywhere, otherwise the compass will

become even more out of sync with the multiverse until

things are so screwed up that it would be nothing more than

a useless chunk of metal."

"But Kaeri-"

"Let me worry about finding Kaeri." Reiko snapped. "It's

partially my fault anyway that we're stuck. If worse comes

to worst, we'll go back to the Cafe and I'll talk to my

superiors."

"Why not now?" Ryo demanded. Reiko sighed in

exasperation.

"Because the Save the Universe Foundation assigned me to

your case, and it's now MY problem. I can't go to them until

I've exhausted every other solution." She pulled the compass

from her pocket and consulted it. "Yep, I thought so. We

couldn't get to the Cafe now, even if we tried. The

shockwave is still moving." She turned the face to Ryo. The

young dimension hopper could now clearly see that where one

of the points of the compass had previously said "Cafe,"

there was nothing.

The kettle began to whistle.

Night fell over this version of Tokyo. Ryo, Rat and

Ishido were camped out in Reiko's living room. Of the three,

only Ryo was still awake. This was partially due to his

contemplation of his current situation, but mostly due to

the fact that Ratiko and Ishido both snored. Loudly.

After a few moments, Ryo couldn't take anymore and

decided to go for a walk. He was about to leave, when he

heard Reiko's bedroom door open. He quickly resumed his

place on the floor and assumed a position suggesting deep

sleep.

Through half closed lids he saw Reiko, fully dressed,

come into the living room, look them over, grab her jacket

and quietly leave the apartment. Ryo silently counted to

thirty, then stood up and exited the apartment himself,

following the guide.

Ryo followed Reiko, keeping to the rooftops of the

neighborhood. She walked for about half a mile before coming

to the local cemetery. Ryo leaped from his perch and followed

Reiko.

He found her kneeling in front of a marker. The full

moon shone brightly, casting everything in near perfect

light. Ryo cautiously crept towards her, careful not to make

a sound.

His eyes widened in surprise when he got close enough to

read the name on the marker.

KUONJI UKYOU

"Well, come on, Ryo." Reiko said without looking up.

"You've come this far."

As if in a trance, Ryo stepped from his hiding place and

knelt, dumfounded next to Reiko. She looked over at him,

tears in the corner of her eyes.

"Now you see why I was given your case." she said.

The two of them went to a small all-night coffee shop

where Reiko proceeded to spill her guts.

She was once a cop from a world where Ukyou had died from

a hithertofore unknown disease. It was later revealed that

the "disease" was a malignant Ki-Spirit that fed on all of

Ukyou's hate and prejudices. The Ki-Spirit had then

decided to go after Ranma, but was defeated by him. Ranma

then attempted to bring Ukyou back from the dead but had

failed. Ukyou hadn't wanted to come back.

"She told Ranma that it would cause too many problems

for all of them. Even if the police left them alone, there

was still the matter of their relationship." Reiko

explained. "Something like that would put a serious strain

on her relationship with Ranma and Akane. So she gave them

her blessing and went on to...wherever she went."

"And how did you get involved in this?" Ryo asked.

"The Ki-Spirit had decided to attack Ranma by making him

think that Ukyou had come back from the dead. My partner and

I were put in charge of the investigation when Ranma was

arrested for grave-robbing. Anyway, while Ranma was dealing

with the Ki-Spirit in the astral plane trying to get Ukyou's

soul back, Akane and I were kept busy trying to find Ukyou's

body, which it had moved just before it decided to attack

Ranma."

"So, this is where it all happened." Ryo said. "Wow.

You know, back in the other reality, where Childra and

Miyabi are, it's been kind of hard to see Dad falling for

Akane, but at least here I can see that he does really care

about Mom. It's kind of comforting."

Reiko smiled. "Yeah. But this isn't my home reality,

either."

"What?"

"It's one where things happened in a similar way, but

with a few major differences. I don't have a counterpart

here, for example. And in this reality, Ukyou died from the

disease, but it wasn't a Ki-Spirit in disguise. It was

closest thing I could find to my real home."

"So why aren't you based there? Why here?"

Reiko sighed and looked out the window. "One of the main

problems with working for the Save the Universe Foundation

is the recruitment policy. In order to prevent a lot of

questions, you have to fake your own death and set up shop

in another reality. Or, in my case, have your death set up

for you."

Ryo stared silently at her, realizing how lonely the young

woman actually was. He tried to imagine the solitude of the

job. Sure, you got to meet a fascinating cross-section of

the inhabitants of space and time, but what good was it when

you had to come home to an empty apartment and a place where

you see people with faces and names that you know, but they

don't know you. He briefly thought about the other Ryo he

had met at the Cafe. Was he to share Reiko's fate?

"You can never go home again, Ryo." she said quietly. Ryo

opened his mouth to say something, but was cut off by the

sound of a small bell ringing. Reiko reached into her pocket

and consulted the compass. Her expression brightened.

"Great!" she said cheerfully. "The shockwave has

stabilized."

"Does that mean we can leave?" Ryo asked.

Reiko nodded. "Things have evened out enough that we can

travel without any real danger. In fact," she fiddled with

the rotating dial on the compass. "Perfect! I've found

Kaeri. And even better news. She hasn't moved from her

current location. Let's get back to my place and get the

other two."

Reiko got out of the booth and went to the register to

pay the check. Ryo watched her silently, touched by what

she'd sacrificed. He hoped that he'd never have to do the

same.

[[[[[[[[[[[[[[(*)]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]

Kaeri woke, cold and stiff, at the base of a gravestone.

Shaking off the morning dew, she glanced fearfully at the

name engraved on the headstone. A giggle of relief emerged

as she realized it was someone she didn't know.

It hurt to stand, and her joints popped slightly, the

noise audible even over her thin laughter. Was she still

chuckling? It probably wasn't proper to be doing that in a

cemetery, and Kaeri hoped she would stop soon.

She had had such terrible nightmares, and she wasn't sure

when she had fallen asleep.

Gingerly, she looked down at herself, straightened the

ragged apron, and froze. In a threadbare buttonhole, a pale

white lily was stuck.

...and she walked through the City of Dead Names, along

the court, up the avenues, her shoes clacking on the

pave-skulls, and the spires rose above her as she strode on,

past the frost- encrusted black fountains, past the bridges

of cold iron, pausing by a bank of chalk-while lilies to

pluck one as the moon shone down, cold and sterile...

But that had been a dream. A delusion. It had to have

been, didn't it?

The lily remained in her buttonhole, solid, undeniably

real.

Her laughter peaked, faded, and died. It had all been

real. She had lost her grip on things, and the locket had

spun her nightmares into flesh.

She shivered slightly. Any of her 'delusions' could have

easily killed her. She couldn't afford to go ma... to go

insan... to...

Kaeri hugged herself tightly, whimpering slightly. She

was not losing her mind. She was sane. Despite it all, she

was sane. It was all too terribly important to break down in

a mewling heap, too important to run back to Mommy's lap.

All that mattered was the Work and the Work was her Family

and, God but it hurt, it hurt...

She screamed, a long, shrill, drawn-out shriek of

despair.

And as the echos faded, she half ran, half stumbled out

of the graveyard. Happosai. His fault, his and Kasumi's.

Kill them.

She slipped though the house like a ghost.

Soun was playing shogi. Akane and Ranma were fighting.

Nabiki was lounging. None of them knew that their lives were

about to be shattered. Blind, blind, blind and innocent.

But she, she was the Adult, the Eyes, the Watcher, the

Angel of Mercy and Death. And she walked without noise

through the halls.

Kasumi turned a corner, and Kaeri smiled at her, the

empty bliss rising though her veins. As the worthless

housekeeper opened her mouth to say something, the good

staff whistled through the air to land with a sharp crack

against her skull. Kasumi fell, crumpling like a puppet with

cut strings, and did not move.

Stepping over the fallen traitor, she walked the

remaining feet to Happosai's room, the nest of the viper.

It was a place of filth and disorder. Kaeri marveled

that she hadn't seen the corruption in the squalor before.

Kasumi had been a blind, weak, pathetic girl. Traitor!

Cleanse!

And in the middle of it all was Happosai, squatting

amidst a pile of soiled clothing, intently studying a book.

He didn't even look up as she entered.

"Kasumi? Is that you, m'girl?" asked the filth, not even

looking up.

"Yes, Master Happosai," she replied calmly, euphoria

filling her soul. "I'm here to clean."

"Ah, good, good, just don't bother me."

"I won't," she said sweetly, raising the blade.

She brought the blade down. Happosai turned, far too

late, and the staff sliced cleanly through his neck. The

runes erupted with crimson energy, blazing, glowing, sending

purifying fire sweeping across the defiled room...

She brought the blade down. Happosai turned with

unnatural speed, knocking the staff aside with jaguarlike

force. A withered hand slammed into her throat, snapping her

neck instantly...

The runes erupted with crimson energy, blazing, glowing,

sending purifying fire sweeping across the defiled room. And

then she split.

She was two, she was one, she was floating above it all,

she was dying in a pile of dirty undergarments and

triumphant in the midst of an inferno, and suddenly she

KNEW.

She hadn't changed anything.

Unlike her home reality, which her actions had rewritten,

the timelines of this world could not be destroyed. As she

had dropped the blade, the lines had split.

In one, the new one, she killed Happosai.

In the other, the old one, Happosai lived and she died.

Both still existed.

She hadn't changed anything.

Last time she had saved them all. This time she couldn't.

Ranma would die in flames, and Akane would kill herself, and

Nabiki die in an explosion, and Daddy die broken and alone.

She hadn't changed anything.

With a howl, Kaeri returned to the timeline and died, her

throat crushed, choking on blood and vomit.

With a howl, Kaeri returned to the timeline and collapsed

in enraged, despairing tears, Happosai's corpse burning

merrily in the dying flames.

[[[[[[[[[[[[[[(*)]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]

Energies erupted, and the forms of four apprehensive

reality jumpers flashed into being.

Ryo rapidly flashed a look around, sliding into a

fighting stance. Hallway in the Tendo home, right... picture

frame on wall, doors...

He heard Ishido's snarl of alarm a split second before he

noticed the apron-clad figure lying crumpled on the floor.

His instincts as a healer took over, and he quickly knelt

to have a look at her. She might be insane, but that didn't

mean she didn't deserve...

Ryo swore.

Craning his head, Ratiko shot him a timid look. "What's

wrong? Doesn't she have the locket? She's got it, right?"

His fingers carefully probed the swollen, blue-purple

lump on her forehead. "This isn't Kaeri. There's no scars,

and the fingers are all here."

"Then who's that?" Rat asked, voice rising shrilly.

"Kasumi." She had what looked like a mild concussion;

hard to tell without equipment. Still, her breathing was

smooth and regular. "She should be okay. We should probably

get her a doctor, though."

Reiko cleared her throat. "If Miss Tendo isn't in any

danger, perhaps you should find the person you're after?

Before she jumps out again?"

"She's right!" Rat yipped eagerly. "She hurt poor,

innocent Grandmother Kasumi! We should stop her! Before she,

uh, hurts anyone else!"

Yeah, Ryo thought blackly, like you. Still, they had a

point.

"Right," he said, standing. "Kaeri said something about

killing Happosai. We should probably check his room first."

The others made agreeable noises, and followed him down

the hall.

Failure.

Moving figures, somewhere.

"Is that her?"

"Yeah. That's... oh. Oh, damn. I think this is Happosai."

"Gack... what'd she DO to him, burn him?"

Happosai? Dead. Alive. Deadalive.

"Ryo... she's giggling at us..."

"I don't think it's at us, Ishido."

Ish-ieeee-dooo... fit the sounds together, dip them in

blood and bone, watch the names become moving shapes...

"Kaeri? It's me, Ryo... are you okay?"

Ryo? Muhoshin-san?

"Kaeri?"

No, no, no, not Muhoshin-san. Other one, other one,

doctornice and polite and unhelpful.

"Kaeri, can you hear me?"

No, let him go away. Him and the terrible things.

"go... away..."

"Kaeri, do you have the locket?"

Locket, ah, locket, blueflame, death, AKANENONONONONO

"Hey! You'll hurt yourself! Stop that!"

Blood, bone, blessed sleep...

"Ish, give me a hand here!"

"If she wants to kill herself, let her."

"Rat, shut up."

Not use struggling, she knew that now. No use at all.

Hopeless. Failure.

"Man, now she's crying. This is creeping me out."

"She's very sick, Ish."

"Tell me something I don't know."

"Kaeri? Can you give me the locket? Please?"

It didn't matter. She saw that now. He'd learn that too,

eventually. It didn't matter.

Move hand, open chain...

"I'll be. She actually gave you it."

"Thank you, Kaeri. We're all going home now, okay?"

Home. Burn, ashes, corpses, rubble, akanenabikidaddyno

"Hey... hey, it's okay..."

"Why is she screaming? What'd you do?"

"I don't know! Reiko, thanks for the... hey, where'd she

go?"

"Probably rode off into the sunset on a white horse. Can

we go home now?"

Death, gone, loss, pain, blueflame...

[[[[[[[[[[[[[[(*)]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]

Miyabi mulled. Atop the roof of the Tendo Home, she

mulled as her father did many times before her, and it was a

mull of equal depth as any mull sessions Ranma had ever

embarked upon.

Her sulk also accomplished for Miyabi what Ranma's did

for him: Absolutely nothing.

She sighed again, one of a dozen melancholy sighs that

evening, wallowing in melancholy. The overcast sunset was

all too appropriate for her mood.

What else, she wondered, could happen now?

As if to answer, a fiery blue light began to glow from

the back yard.

Must be them, she thought. Miyabi wondered if everything

was FINALLY settled so that she could just GO HOME.

If, of course, she still had a home to go to.

The glowing stopped, followed by a startled yelp and a splash.

"Might be Ryo," she grumbled. "Serves him right if he

fell in the pond."

"Aargh! Why me?!"

Mm-hm. It was Ryo.

She rose and leaped easily to the grounds below.

Seeing a grumbling and soggy Ryo stepping out of the pond

brought a slight smile to her face. Ishido was walking

away, grumbling something about finding Childra, shaking off

a wet leg.

She was somewhat puzzled at the fact that they were all

in black suits. There was even an empty spare half-soaked in

the pond.

Then there was the bat that was flying about looking

dazed, baffled, and lost.

Bat?

"EEEK!" With a lightning fast punch she sent the thing

out of the backyard and into the horizon.

"EEK!"

Miyabi frowned. That wasn't her. She finally looked at

Kasumi, who wasn't looking quite right herself.

"Auntie Kasumi?"

Kasumi flinched at the sound of her name and started

screaming incoherently, shuddering and with tears in her

eyes. Then looked at her surroundings and curled up into a

ball on the ground, covering her face with her hands.

"A-auntie?"

"Um, Miyabi," said Ryo, looking apprehensive. "She's...

not what you think she is."

Miyabi glared at Ryo, then grabbed him by his soggy

shirt. "What did you do to her?" she hissed.

He met her gaze without a flinch, returning a look of

extreme seriousness that was strong enough to halt even her

temper. "Don't even blame me for this. I'll explain later.

Really."

"Oh my!"

Ryo winced. Miyabi turned around.

Kasumi stood at the porch doorway... looking at Kasumi,

curled up in a ball in the backyard, her face frozen in

shock. Miyabi looked from one Kasumi to the other in

general confusion, then returned to glaring at Ryo.

"You'd _better_ explain this later."

"Just... dammit," Ryo looked from Kasumi to Kasumi and

frowned. "Just get Kasumi back into the house, okay?"

"Which one?!"

"The one in the doorway," hissed Ryo. "Go. We'll talk

about it later, okay?"

A few minutes later, after she ushered Kasumi back into

the house and assured her that everything was, for the

moment, okay, Miyabi headed upstairs to look for Ryo and

that other Kasumi.

She eventually found them in the guest room, waiting

quietly. 'Kasumi' was lying on a futon, again curled up, but

this time with eyes closed. She tossed and turned, her

expression troubled.

"She's asleep," said Ryo quietly. He neglected to tell

her he'd used pressure points to induce the sleep,

suspecting that she'd just accuse him of going for a cheap

feel.

"Who is she?" asked Miyabi. "I mean, she's Kas-"

Ryo covered her mouth with his hand. In response, she

covered his mouth with her fist.

"Ow!"

"What do you think you're doing, pervert?" hissed Miyabi,

keeping the volume low so as not to wake Kasumi.

"Don't say that name," hissed Ryo in return. "Call her

'Kaeri', okay?"

"Kaeri?"

"She doesn't like her old name. She really doesn't like

it."

"Well, why's Kaeri here?" She gave him an accusing glare.

"You didn't accidentally drag her here, did you?"

"No I didn't," he said angrily. "Stop trying to blame

everything on me. Just listen, okay?"

"This better be good, 'brother'."

"Look... she used the mirror to get here."

"The mirror?"

"The Nanban mirror. From what she told me, she came from

a reality where everyone died."

"What?"

"And it, well..." Ryo frowned. "It left her badly

scarred too."

"I noticed the scars on her face, yeah."

"And she's missing a few fingers."

"What?!"

"Not so loud! You wanna wake her up?" said Ryo.

Miyabi frowned and knelt by Kaeri's side. "So why's she

like this now?"

"She tried to make everything right, I think. It's hard

to tell. She just mumbles a lot now. Anyway, I guess

whatever she did didn't work and she couldn't deal with it."

Ryo sat on the floor and sighed. "I hate seeing her like

this. It just seems so... wrong."

Miyabi gently brushed a few hairs from Kaeri's forehead.

"Oh Auntie... what're we gonna do?"

"Actually, that's what I wanted to talk to you about,"

said Ryo. "Look, that other Ryo's still out there and I have

to stop him. Can you look after Kaeri-"

"Who?"

"Her," said Ryo, pointing to 'Kasumi'. "She doesn't like

being called... by her old name, okay? Call her Kaeri.

Look after her, okay? At least until I fix this mess with

Muhoshin?"

Miyabi looked thoughtfully at Kaeri, lips in a frown.

"Yeah, I'll do it. No problem."

"Thanks." Ryo sat there for a moment more, then left.

He felt a little uneasy about leaving Miyabi to care for

Kaeri, but he didn't think it was wise to have one of the

Tendo sisters tend for her. It was bound to get ugly,

especially if Kasumi...

Oh yeah.

"Hey, one more thing," said Ryo, poking his head back

into the room.

"Yeah?"

"DON'T let Kaeri and... Kas... you know... don't let

those two see each other, okay?"

"Fine. And Ryo?"

"Yeah?"

"Since when did you join the Men In Black?"

"Huh?"

"The suit. What's with the suit?"

He frowned and looked down at his attire, fiddling with

his tie.

"This," he said, shaking the tie around, "is a short,

weird story. You'd never believe me."

Suddenly, appearing from nowhere, Reiko appeared with a

large duffel bag and a backpack.

"Reiko-san?" asked Ryo, clearly puzzled. "What're you

doing here?"

"You guys forgot your stuff," said Reiko. "The pack is

Hibiki's, and all your clothes are in the duffel bag."

"Oh. Er, thanks."

"No problem. And keep the suits. Seeya!"

-POP-

"Do I really wanna know?" asked Miyabi.

"Transdimensional guide," said Ryo.

"Uh-huh."

Meanwhile, elsewhere, Childra and Ishido were stargazing

where Miyabi was mulling only a few minutes earlier. Well,

the idea was to stargaze (Childra thought it was romantic,

and that was all Ishido needed to know) but in the end they

did what everyone else that ever sat on that roof did.

They mulled.

"So she didn't succeed, huh?" asked Childra.

He held her a little tighter. "You're still here, so she

didn't succeed. Right?"

Childra shrugged. "Yes and no."

This caused Ishido to frown. "Yes and no?"

"Temporal dynamics are weird. She did and she didn't

succeed."

"What do you mean?"

Childra pointed to one of the backyard trees. "See that

tree there? Now imagine the trunk was time. And see where

the branches start splitting out? In time, that'd be a

place where things happened differently. In this branch she

tried and nothing happened. Somewhere else out there, it

worked. Get it?"

"How can you be sure?"

Childra frowned, ever so slightly. "Tried it myself

once. Long story. I'll tell you sometime later." She felt

a little sympathy for Kaeri at that moment. The realization

that one changed things, changed _important_ things, for the

better but can never enjoy the rewards was a bitter moment.

Ishido wasn't entirely sure of what she said, but as long

as she was in his arms, it didn't matter much to him.

"And by the way," said Childra, "what's with the suit?"

"Oh, this?" Ishido frowned and tugged at his tie. "I

forgot I was wearing it. We had to go to some weird place,

and they wouldn't let us in unless we wore these."

"I like it. You look cute in a suit."

"Really?"

She snuggled closer to him, and in a sultry voice, said,

"But you look even cuter out of it."

It was a blissful, romantic moment.

Of course, it wasn't to last for long.

"Ishido! You up there?!" yelled Ryo.

Ishido groaned. Childra patted him on the arm.

"Now now, Lobis, go see what Mr. Hero wants."

"Me?"

"You. I-" Jansen sighed and smiled faintly. "I have a few

things to think about." [Like how I'm going to explain this

to Zannen when I get back.]

Even had he been inclined to, it would have been

difficult for Ishido to resist her dimples and watery eyes.

With just the slightest frown, he resigned himself to his

duty.

"I'm coming!" he yelled, and clambered down the side of

the building.

Ranma tried something new. Instead of mulling on the

roof, he was mulling in his room.

The topic of the night's mull was the ongoing situation

with the miscellaneous time-traveling wanderers. They'd

been there for about two days now. That wasn't so bad,

though. The Tendos had tolerated worse for longer, and two

of these were practically family.

Things were certainly getting stranger since they'd

arrived. Having two grown up children from two different

mothers was a mixed blessing. Previously unknown parental

pride had emerged in him, as well as fear of the future, or

futures. Which way was he destined? If anything, the recent

events made clear that his future was wildly undecided and

anything was possible.

Shampoo and Cologne would NEVER stop pestering him if a

kid from a Ranma/Shampoo reality showed up, and he felt he'd

definitely have an anxiety attack if a child from him and

Kodachi decided to appear.

It was his lack of participation in it that was really

bugging him. He was Ranma Saotome. He was the one everyone

in Nerima challenged or went to ask for help. He was the

guy that eventually solved The Big Problem.

Nobody was asking for help.

Not even his son, or his daughter.

At first it was nice to be left out of it, but now he was

starting to feel ignored, and he hated feeling ignored.

From the backyard, he could hear his future son calling

out, "Ishido! You up there?!"

They were meeting again.

Without him.

"That's it," he muttered. "I'm in."

He stood and walked off, intending to confront his son

about a few matters whether he liked it or not.

Ishido landed somewhat awkwardly at Ryo's side, skinning

his elbow in the process.

"What's going on?" he asked, somewhat irritated.

"I need your help."

"My help?"

"You were right, he was dangerous, and I've been trying

to stop him but I don't think I can do it on my own."

Ishido frowned. "Oh, you mean Muhoshin."

"Right."

Ishido shook his head.

"He's WRONG, if any man ever was."

With a sigh, Childra looked down from the clouds. It

didn't seem fair that there should be so many different

kinds of love, and each of them incompatible... Why couldn't

others feel as she did? Why couldn't they understand that

no matter how much she wanted to, she COULDN'T choose, and

still remain herself? As she raised her hand to wipe the

tears from her face, she noticed Ryo Saotome and Ishido

walking away from the dojo.

She waved.

"Where you going, boy scout?"

Ryo paused hesitantly and looked up. "Out."

Three seconds, a flick of the bo and a somersault or two

later, Childra was standing next to the two boys.

"Out?" she asked, running her hand through her hair.

Ishido glanced at her elbow, then hid his own and colored

slightly.

"Of this universe. We have to-"

Childra raised her hand, stopping him mid-sentence.

"Wherever you're off to, I'm going with you. You've caused

enough trouble on your own." She smirked. "Besides, I want

to-"

Ishido froze.

"You CAN'T go!" He protested. "What if-"

Jansen looked him in the eye. "What if what?"

"Well, I, uh..." Ishido looked down.

"I'm going, Lobis."

"Count me in too."

The three looked up to see Ranma, standing at the

entrance to the backyard from the house, arms crossed and

looking as confident as ever. Ishido and Childra weren't

terribly impressed. Ryo, on the other hand, looked

horrified.

"Ah, dad, no. I really don't think this is a good idea."

"You're facing a dangerous martial artist, right? Look,

you know it and I know it, I'm the best martial artist

available right now and you need all the help you can get.

Right?"

"Maybe I do, dad, but I really don't... well... Ryo

threw his hands up in the air. "I REALLY don't need

anything else going wrong right now, okay? It's bad enough

we're misplaced. I don't want you getting lost too."

"But-"

"You gotta admit, he has a point," said Childra. Ishido

seemed to look just a little envious.

"Aargh! Fine, dad, fine. Okay. Come on, everybody."

He held up the locket and it began to glow. Childra,

Ishido, and Ranma stepped towards him as the glow became

brighter.

"Just please," said Ryo as the blue flame swirled around

them all, "try not to pick anyone else up along the way, and

don't get lost."

As they faded away, Ranma's last words echoed in the

wind.

"Hey, why are you guys wearing suits?"

The glowing column of blue flames began to shrink in

size, from the width of several people to that of a straw.

Just when it vanished, a small, battered bat landed

face-first into the ground. It rose unsteadily, reminiscent

of a drunk and seasick sailor, and then tried to fly, which

was somewhat reminiscent of a drunk and seasick seagull.

A violent gust of wind took the unfortunate creature in

its grip and hurled it away into the night sky.

THE NEXT DAY...

What, Miyabi wondered, in the name of Kami-sama was going

on here?

She looked at Kaeri. So like Kasumi, but not Kasumi.

She sighed, then smiled softly to herself. Auntie

Kasumi, in any universe, was always sweet, loving, and

caring. It seemed only fair that she return the favor.

Miyabi reached over, soaked a handcloth in a basin of

water, and mopped Kaeri's fevered brow. Kaeri grew a little

calmer under her administrations, and Miyabi smiled softly

to herself. Despite that horrendous scar, when sleeping

calmly, Miyabi could see, there was still that sweet Kasumi

in her, although she looked like she was having an

unpleasant dream.

Miyabi frowned. What sort of things had Kasum... Kaeri

seen? For some reason, she just couldn't picture anything

disturbing Kasumi's inner peace, and...

Gods, what kind of sicko would even THINK of harming

Kasumi?

She reached over to gently brush a stray strand of hair

from Kaeri's brow.

"Don't worry, Auntie Kasumi," Miyabi murmured. "I won't

let anyone hurt you. Ever again."

Kasumi was happy, once again, in the kitchen..

Fresh vegetables. Fresh meat.

Just in time for Miyabi's friends, who were here

visiting.

Well, they were her nieces and nephews, sort of, but it

was easier to think of them as Miyabi's friends. After all,

she was hardly old enough to be anybody's aunt.

Kasumi sighed, and then looked over at Akane, who had

just entered the kitchen.

"Hi, oneechan! What're you making?"

"Breakfast. Oh, Akane? Can you please get Miyabi?

Breakfast should be on the table in a few minutes."

"Okay, oneechan!"

Kasumi smiled. It was going to be a wonderful breakfast.

Akane knocked on the door, cautiously.

She knew she was still upset with Miyabi, but she had to

admit, a small part of her kind of... admired what she was

doing. But still... Ranma...?

She cut that thought off, and opened the door.

Miyabi started up, her eyes opening wide. She

frantically began to wave her hands. "Mum! Wait, no,

don't..."

But Miyabi was too late.

Akane's eyes went to the figure in bed, widening in

horrified fascination. It... it was Kasumi... wasn't it?

No, it couldn't be, Kasumi had just sent her upstairs...

Akane moved closer, ignoring Miyabi's pleas, to get a

better look.

Kaeri opened her eyes.

Miyabi watched, tension showing on her face, as Akane

leaned over. "Kasumi...?"

Kaeri began to shriek.

This was not good. This was definitely not good, Miyabi

thought, as she frantically tried to free Akane from Kaeri's

fierce grasp.

"Kasumi!" Akane screamed, as she tried to free herself.

Kaeri held on to Akane, sobbing as though her heart would

break. Not even the combined efforts of Akane and Miyabi

could break Kaeri's grip.

Miyabi paused. This was getting her nowhere. What

would've Mum done? Slug Kaeri... Miyabi shook her head.

No, not Auntie Kasumi. Not even if it wasn't really Auntie

Kasumi. Wait...

Quietly, Miyabi began to hum. A quiet lullaby... one

that her aunt Kasumi had taught her. Wordlessly, Miyabi

hummed, moving around to hug Kaeri. If there was anything

of the Kasumi Miyabi knew inside this scarred woman,

maybe...

Kaeri slowly began to loosen her grip. Taking the

opportunity, Akane tore free and ran out the door. Kaeri

started to reach out after Akane, but Miyabi tightened her

hug, humming that quiet wordless lullaby again.

Slowly, Kaeri began to relax against Miyabi.

The two of them sat there in the room, in the bright

sunlight, amidst the quiet wordless humming.

Kasumi smiled to herself. After the disturbing incident

yesterday, it was nice to have such a ...

"Kasumi!"

... peaceful morning.

Kasumi turned to smile, only to nearly be knocked over by

a sobbing Akane.

After a short hysterical period in which Kasumi could

make neither heads nor tails of Akane's tale, she was able

to get the whole story.

Oh my.

Kasumi mechanically comforted Akane, assuring her she was

still there, but her thoughts were running wild.

Another Kasumi, this one scarred? What did this mean?

Was this her mother's warning? Premonition?

Akane left, finally calm.

The same could not be said of Kasumi.

Somewhere in Nerima, a little bat was scowling, with her

little fangs showing.

Ratiko scowled as only a Hibiki could, as she flapped her

little wings through the air.

She knew that Kaeri was going about destroying realities,

trying to eliminate future universes where her family died,

where her sisters and her father had perished untimely.

And Ratiko knew that her universe was one of those. That

much, she could reason out. And what she knew, the Onocorp

O.P.I.M. chip in her head knew. And the chip, which

enhanced her self-preservation instincts, knew that the end

of HIS universe meant the end of Ratiko himself, and was

driving him on his mission.

There was no doubt about it.

For Reiraku 'Ratiko' Hibiki to live, 'Kaeri' Tendo had to

die.

The first major obstacle was finding her way back to the

Tendo dojo after Miyabi punched her over and out of the

Tendo yard when she was in her bat form.

Through a minor meteorological miracle, the wind was

rough enough to steer Ratiko about wildly in the air...

... and onto the Tendo roof.

Dragging herself upwards, she managed to flap her way into

the house, and began looking for the bathroom.

Being a Hibiki, Ratiko totally overshot her objective

several times.

It was during one of those times that she encountered

Miyabi Tendo leaving a room, closing it quietly behind her.

Or at least, almost encountered. She quickly ducked out of

sight. She most certainly didn't want to remain around

Miyabi, not after her discovery that he had tried to kill

Ranma and frame Akane before. And Miyabi was very likely to

strangle her.

So Ratiko hid, and watched, as Miyabi started down the

hallway, only to stop as Akane Tendo walked down the hall.

She watched as Miyabi began to explain the story of who the

girl was that Akane had seen, and grinned a little batty

grin.

So, that was where Kaeri Tendo was hiding herself.

She flew around, looking for the bedroom...

Again, her Hibiki heritage betrayed him, and she flew

around aimlessly...

***PLOP***

... and into the Tendo bathroom.

With a conveniently hot bath awaiting.

Complete with its own Soun Tendo(tm).

Ratiko calmly stepped out of the bath, muttering a quick

"excuse me," to an utterly stoic Soun, he pulled his clothes

from that mysterious subspace where all Jusenkyou victims

keep their clothing and went in search of his victim-to-be.

Miyabi sighed, as she walked back to Kaeri's room. It

had taken some doing, but she had finally managed to

convince Akane that the person that had been crying and

hugging her was not really Kasumi.

Even if it did seem an awfully lot like Kasumi. She DID

respond to familiar things, and so it HAD to be Kasumi.

Miyabi frowned to herself. The same question that Akane

had asked her was the same thing that plagued her.

What had happened to the Kasumi Tendo of that universe?

What would make her become "Kaeri"?

She sighed in front of Kaeri's door. First, she had to

help Kaeri recover.

And with a smile, Miyabi Tendo opened the door to see

Ratiko Hibiki hovering menacingly over Kaeri Tendo.

[[[[[[[[[[[[[[(*)]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]

He had a headache.

Muhoshin staggered across the barren, alien plains, his

mind in a blue haze.

Sick.

He was sick.

That didn't seem fair at all. Powers of a god and he was

ill.

Not fair.

Not fair.

He'd shifted reality again.

It seemed lately that he'd been tripping through time and

space more than traveling through it. He wandered through a

desert forest swamp with blazing cold fiery sands of icy

monsoons with the sunrise sunset full moon forever across

the night and day, with the blue flame always surrounding

him. Always.

Stop.

He had to stop.

Muhoshin leaned against the ancient ruins of a city long

forgotten in a world he did not know.

*COUGH*

He blinked, looked at the ground, then sighed. His spit,

it seemed, was glowing bright azure. Just great.

[Where am I?]

He looked around and was pleased that the world wasn't

shifting around him. Instead, the world was at the moment a

grassy plain, with a few hills in the distance. The

structure he was leaning on was ancient, massive, and in

ruins. It appeared to be the edge of some sort of city, all

built by ebony stone.

[Lovely decor.]

*COUGH*

A grumble from his stomach reminded him that he hadn't

eaten in a long time.

Ah. That was easy to fix.

He focused his will and his mind, feeling a slight

headache as he did.

Somewhere out there in the infinite worlds, an 18 ounce

steak with a potato and a bottle of soda disappeared.

It reappeared before Ryo's feet a moment later.

"Itadakimasu."

He had a few doubts about using the locket's power like

that. It seemed awfully trivial.

Then again, the steak tasted awfully good.

In mid-chew he stopped, shifting his eyes around warily.

He felt something, a disturbance, a slight chill in the

spine.

They were coming.

He'd seen this moment in his dreams and in his visions a

hundred times, the day he'd fall. And, though he did not

have a reason why, he knew this was the moment of his

downfall.

No.

No more running.

It was time to make a stand.

If he was going to fall, he would not fall quietly. He

would make the heavens scream in terror before he was

defeated.

He'd do it his way.

Ryo Muhoshin looked into the fires of the locket... and

he focused.

*poof*

There are two major schools of thought on what happened

next.

One line of thought theorizes that the locket makes all

things possible, and therefore Muhoshin had actually

_created_ this world he was about to enter into.

Another line of thought believed it was already there

to begin with, awaiting his arrival.

Regardless of what really happened, it was Muhoshin's

personal world.

Everything seemed sterile, untouched, new, and yet the

entire city was empty and silent as death. Surrounding him

were gothic buildings with nice, wide ledges. They jutted

out into the sky as if they were meant to touch the heavens.

The street lamps had a dead Ryouga hung on every corner,

swaying in the turbulent winds.

Atop every tower was a clock that made Big Ben look

modest. Each one was spinning one way or another, no two

matching in time, and all spinning wildly and

inconsistently. In the distance, giant bells rang wildly,

counting off hours that were passing in someone else's

worlds.

And of course, it was raining, a constant heavy downpour.

He liked the rain. After all, he was trained on how to fight

in the rain.

As lightning flickered and thunder roared from on high,

Muhoshin opened his umbrella and sat at the steps of one of

the buildings.

And he waited.

Within one of the dark alleys of the dark city, a ball of

cerulean flame erupted and dissipated, leaving four people

in its passing.

"Aw man, it just had to be raining," said Ranma, now in

his girl form.

"What kind of place is this?" asked Ishido, barely

audible over the howling wind and rain.

Ryo wiped the water from his eyes, held the locket before

him, and moved it left and right. Its glow grew brighter,

then darker, then brighter again as he moved it to and fro.

"We're here and he's still here and that's all that counts.

C'mon, this way."

The four stepped out into the street, their vision

blurred badly by the constantly pouring rain. They emerged

in the middle of a long and wide street with gargoyle-esque

street lamps lining the sidewalks. At the very end of the

street was a dark tower, stretching far higher than any of

the surrounding buildings.

He heard the deep tone of a bell and looked to the tops

of the buildings. Each one had a clock mounted on its face,

and each clock face was spinning wildly forward or backward.

After only a few seconds of looking at them, he began to

feel disoriented and ill.

There _was_ something strange about this place. It was

something he couldn't see, but it was there.

"Hey, what are those things hanging on the street lamps?"

asked Childra.

They approached one of the street lamps cautiously, then

felt horror when they saw what it was.

"R-Ryouga?" stuttered Ranma.

Ryo closed his eyes. "Oh no."

"Um, he's over here too," said Childra, standing by

another street lamp. "I think they're all Ryougas."

"What the hell is this?" asked Ranma.

Ryo's thoughts were assuming the worst. Was this the

result of Muhoshin's handiwork? Dozens, maybe hundreds of

dead Ryougas as macabre street ornaments for an empty city?

He was snapped out of that line of thought when he

thought he saw something moving down the street. In the

darkness and the downpour of rain it was hard to see, but

there was _something_.

Ryo listened carefully for a moment. Sensing his mood,

so did the others.

Splish-splash-splish-splash...

...splish-splash-splish-splash...

Footsteps?

...splish-splash-splish-splash...

Fast. Echoing off the buildings. Hard to tell where it

was coming from.

...splish-splash-splish-splash...

Running this way? Yes, definitely getting closer.

...splish-splash-splish-splash...

Ishido stood in front of Childra protectively. Ryo and

Ranma stood ready, awaiting an attack.

...splish-splash.

And then it stopped.

"Nice suit, Saotome," echoed Muhoshin's voice. "Why, I'm

almost envious. BAKUSTAI-TEN-KETSU!"

Glowing yellow shapes whistled down from a ledge above,

striking at the ground between them. As they hit, the

street exploded with a deafening roar, throwing the four off

their feet. They scrambled for cover as more projectiles

screamed downward, continuing the destruction of the street

around them.

Unfortunately, with the savage weather, dark night and

explosions, they found themselves separated.

Childra stumbled through the doorway of the building,

wiping the rain from her eyes. As her eyes adjusted to the

dim lighting, she saw that she was in a room lined from

floor to ceiling with black marble. There was the first

steps of a stairway peaking from the shadows across the

room.

"Childra!"

That voice. Ishido, calling to her. He was still out

there.

"Ishido! Over here!" shouted Childra.

"Childra! Where are you?!" replied Ishido.

She rushed to the doorway, then stopped as she saw who

was standing in it.

Dripping wet, with an eerily calm look on his face, Ryo

Muhoshin stood.

"He's coming too?" asked Muhoshin. "Convenient."

Displaying speed that comes from messing about with

Nerima martial artists, she pulled out her bo and swung at

his skull in one graceful swipe.

He caught it in his hand. Then he adjusted his grip

slightly.

A second later, the bo was reduced to splinters and dust.

"Childra!" echoed Ishido's desperate voice from the

streets outside.

"Over hee-eeere!" yelled Muhoshin in a mocking tone,

looking behind him for a moment. Then he was punched

solidly in the jaw, sending him reeling for a second.

"Don't underestimate me," said Childra gravely. She

followed her punch with an uppercut aimed at his jaw

again...

... and was horrified when he caught that too.

Muhoshin narrowed his eyes and stared at her. She wasn't

sure, but she thought she saw his eyes glow.

"That's enough from you," he hissed.

-WHAM-

"Childra!"

Ishido ran around in the rain, frantic ever since Childra

left his sight.

"Ishido! Over here!" shouted Childra, her voice coming

from nearby. To the left? To the right? With the

rainstorm from Hell, Ishido wasn't entirely sure.

"Childra! Where are you?!"

"Over hee-eeere!" Ishido's blood ran cold. That wasn't

Childra's voice. It was Muhoshin's.

He felt it take over, the 'automatic' training that

possessed him in times of extreme fear or stress.

Instantly, his senses seemed to improve, overcoming the

rain and wind. A block away, he saw an open doorway and a

slight hint of movement in the shadows.

"CHILDRA!"

He charged in a berserker run, storming through the

doorway of the skyscraper and ready to fight. As he

entered, his eyes adjusted to the dim lighting quickly.

At the far end of the empty building, standing in another

entrance, he could see Ryo Muhoshin's silhouette and

something Childra-sized slung over his shoulder.

"Come, oh valiant hero," said Muhoshin flatly. "The

lady awaits."

Ishido charged across the room silently, his battle aura

flaring to life around him.

Muhoshin tapped the floor.

The building collapsed.

"Dammit, this isn't good," said Ryo Saotome, pacing

around in an empty building he and Ranma managed to get

into. "This is a mess."

"He did the breaking point with ki blasts?" asked

Ranma-chan, wringing out her shirt. "Impressive."

"Um, dad?"

"Yeah?"

"Could you put your shirt on please?"

"Oh. Sorry."

Ryo stared out of one of the giant windows while Ranma

put her shirt back on, frowning at the darkness outside.

Then he noticed the window was stained glass and formed a

picture.

"What the heck is this?" he mumbled, taking a few steps

back. The picture began to take shape as he walked

backwards. Legs. A dress. An... apron?

"If I didn't know any better, I'd think that was Kasumi."

"Yeah, you're right," said Ranma-chan. "She's on all the

windows here."

Before they could give it any further thought, they felt

the ground shudder under them and a deep rumbling from

outside.

"What was that?!" asked Ranma-chan. Ryo raced to the

doorway and peered out into the street. His eyes widened in

shock as he saw a skyscraper several blocks down collapse on

itself.

"Uh oh."

Ranma-chan joined him in watching as it crashed. The

height of the building was impressive, as after several

seconds it was still crashing.

"Think he did this?" asked Ranma-chan.

Ryo looked down at the locket in his hands, currently

held towards the collapsing building. It was pulsing with a

blue light, occasionally flickering out tongues of blue

flame.

"Yeah, that's him," said Ryo.

Then the locket started glowing brighter.

"And he's coming."

The two backed away from the walls, standing in the

middle of the room and ready to fight. And then Ryo

realized something.

"Uh oh."

Ranma-chan glared at Ryo. "Uh oh? Uh oh what?"

"I think we'd better get out of the building."

"And back into the rain?"

"This building's made of stone."

"And?" Ryo stared at her for a moment, until the facts

finally sunk in. "Ah... oooh. Oh boy."

Then the walls began to crack.

Ryo frowned. "Damn."

"RUN!"

From high atop one of the many towers in the city,

Muhoshin looked down upon the crumbling skyscraper, the

second one he'd leveled today.

He wiped the rain from his eyes and frowned. It seemed

to be obscuring the view of the destruction. He didn't like

that.

"Enough."

The rain gently tapered off until only a light drizzle

remained.

"Hrm. Really worked."

Far below, concrete and rock debris littered the city

where two towers once stood.

"Not bad for a 'gosling'. Don't you think?"

He looked above him, where Childra was tied upside-down and

hanging from the maw of a gargoyle. She wasn't saying

anything, mainly because she was gagged.

He closed his eyes for a moment and put a hand over his

chest, where a blue glow began to flicker.

"Mmm, yes. Not moving. Down for the count?"

Muhoshin stared at the wreckage below for a moment.

"Down for the count. Time to get the locket. Guess I

didn't need a hostage after all."

*COUGH*COUGH*COUGH*

Childra's eyes widened in surprise as a spray of blue

sparks flew from Muhoshin's mouth.

"You see," he said to her, wiping his hand on his suit

jacket, "I'm a little ill. Nothing a small vacation won't

fix. Now, on to the wreckage."

With a swipe of his umbrella blade, the rope hanging from

the gargoyle's maw was severed, sending Childra into

free fall.

Then Muhoshin caught her by the foot.

"Come along, Miss Jansen. You may be of use yet."

They took the elevator.

With Childra tied up and slung over his shoulder, Ryo

stood there and whistled idly while the elevator speakers

softly droned out music with strange lyrics.

o/~ Heads are hanging from the garbage man trees o/~

o/~ Mouthwash jukebox gasoline o/~

o/~ Pistols are pointing at a poor man's pockets o/~

o/~ Smiling eyes ripping out of his sockets o/~

o/~ Got a devil's haircut in my mind o/~

o/~ Got a devil's haircut in my mind o/~

o/~ Got a devil's haircut in my mind o/~

o/~ Got a devil's haircut in my mind o/~

-DING-

"Ground floor," mumbled Muhoshin.

This, thought Childra, was strange. Weren't they on the

87th floor before? Amazingly fast elevator, that.

The elevator opened.

-WHAP-

"Aaaagh!"

Muhoshin staggered back, holding his nose, as Ranma-chan

sprang into the elevator and began pounding on him

relentlessly. Meanwhile, Childra was dropped on the floor

and managed to roll away from the raging battle.

A few seconds later, Muhoshin was flung out of the

elevator, slamming through the doors and tumbling out into

the street.

Ranma-chan emerged from the elevator a moment later and

quickly untied Childra.

"Hey, you okay?"

"I'm fine, but where's Ishido?!" she said frantically.

"Ishido? I dunno. I didn't see him anywhere. C'mon, we

gotta get outta this building before-"

-crack-

"Uh oh."

Childra and Ranma-chan burst from the building just as it

began to crash down on itself. Muhoshin stood in the middle

of the street, awaiting them.

"I'll destroy the whole city if I have to," he said

calmly. "I won't go dow... d... urgh."

Suddenly, he doubled over in pain and began to yell.

Blue flames roared from his eyes and mouth as he writhed in

agony on the ground.

"What the hell is happening?" asked Ranma-chan. She

felt, with much reason, she'd been asking that too much

lately.

"I... I'm not sure," said Childra.

Muhoshin continued screaming and turning, until finally

the flames died down and he settled into a constant and

slight twitching.

World upon world upon world was his to view, tiny specs

of sand in an infinite sea, swirling forever. More and more

and more and more...

No human has ever seen the whole of creation.

Ryo Muhoshin, however, was coming awfully close to it.

"Hey Ryo! You can come out now! We got'em!"

From underneath some rubble, Ryo Saotome emerged. He

looked a little dusty but otherwise was fine.

"It worked, huh?" he asked.

Ranma-chan nodded. "Mm-hm."

"You guys actually had a plan?" asked Childra.

Ryo nodded. "Muhoshin could tell whenever I got near.

The lockets are a giveaway. So I just stayed here and

played dead while dad ambushed'em."

"This guy wasn't so tough," said Ranma-chan confidently.

"He demolished three buildings, dad."

"Sorry to interrupt your testosterone moment, boys," said

Childra. "But have either of you seen Ishido?"

"Ishido? Um, no. He wasn't with you?"

"Oh... oh no. Ishido! WHERE ARE YOU!?"

Large Pile of Rubble That Was Once A Tower #2 began to

shudder.

The three backed away, very carefully.

A large pillar of energy burst from the wreckage,

accompanied by a bellowing roar. When the dust settled,

Ishido stood at the center of a large crater, breathing

heavily and looking tremendously stressed.

"Ishido!" Childra raced to him and took him in her arms,

where he collapsed easily.

"H... holding a... a ton... of rock... up... is not...

easy."

And then he passed out. Of course, Childra didn't mind

holding him in her arms at all.

Meanwhile, Ryo Saotome looked down at the twitching for

of his nemesis, realization dawning on him. His future self

did say Muhoshin had some sort of radiation poisoning from

the locket. Here was evidence he was right about the

future.

At that moment, he was extremely grateful that he stopped

him before Bell-chan... before she...

"What're we gonna do with him?" asked Ranma-chan.

"Well, first, I've gotta do this." Ryo kneeled by

Muhoshin's side and carefully opened his shirt, revealing

the 'other' locket, pulsing brightly beneath a thin layer of

skin. The chain, however, was still above the skin,

looping around Muhoshin's neck.

"Oh jeez," muttered Ranma-chan. "That's gross."

"Dad, hold his arms down."

"Why?"

"I need to get the locket."

"You... aw man, this is disgusting."

"I agree with you entirely," said Ryo. He reached down

and took hold of the chain. After a moment of hesitation,

he pulled the chain.

Hard.

The view was breathtaking. He was seeing everything!

Billions upon billions of galaxies! Billions upon billions

of realities!

And across the realities, there was him.

A legion of him. Martial artist, common man, salary man,

loving parent, angry loner, wandering student, immortal

conqe-

And then everything went black.

"I'm gonna be sick," said Ranma-chan, looking a little

pale.

"Yeah, me too," said Ryo. He put the bloody locket down

for the moment and turned to his enemy again.

Muhoshin's only reaction was to finally stop twitching.

"Let's see," said Ryo. "What else... oh." Ryo held the

locket up for a moment. A second later, after a flash of

blue light, a straitjacket was strewn on the ground.

"Help me put this on him," asked Ryo. With minimal

resistance, they fastened the straitjacket. Then he turned

his attention to Childra. "Hey, is he all right?"

"Just burned himself out, I think," replied Childra. "We

going back now?"

"Yeah, we are."

Ryo Saotome took the bloody locket once more, noticing

that the two were flaring violently now that they were in

close proximity to each other. He briefly wondered if

having the two would render both useless. No, that wasn't

right somehow. Not logical. Since he was the only one

holding the lockets, his was the only will guiding them

both.

It should work. He hoped.

"C'mon, let's get outta here," said Ranma-chan, looking

at one of the hanged Ryougas. "This place just isn't

right."

"You felt that too, huh? Let's get outta here."

He dropped it in the pocket of his shirt. Then, with

the remaining locket held high, he took them away from

Muhoshin's world.

-End Act 7-

Annotations for Act 7

" The story so far... " Long summary, isn't it? - " Ah. A six-armed gorilla in a tuxedo with an upper-class British accent. " I don't understand it either. Blame Mike Loader. - "..the Collective can get stuffed, Tsubasa. You're the girl I love, and if they can't handle that, then they can go to..." Referring to the Gosunkugi collective yet again, first appearing in the Ranma 2096 story "GOSUNKUGI: Generations" by Rod M. Any time you see the word 'Collective', you can be sure it's referring to the legion of Gosunkugi. - " So she pushed her way through the tables, past clumps of merrily chatting copies of people she knew, until her path was blocked by a rather large party of gaijins. Loud, noisy, slightly tanked gaijins. And Kodachi Kuno." Cameo by the Institut Rats, direct from their appearance in the Nameless Sequel. - "Excuse me. Would you, by chance, have seen a young lady, name of Sarah?" A Dr. Who reference, Sarah being one of the Doctor's many companions. - "You found..? Aw, damnit, Rod found her in the broom closet five minutes ago." Yes, kids, that's the Converging Series writers pestering poor Kaeri. - "...My brothers? Not a chance. They last saw me falling into the abyss, with an arrow in my neck and another by my heart. No, they all are safe in the knowledge that Brand is dead. This Collective of yours, they can move through shadow? How do they manage..." Brand of Amber, chatting with a Gosunkugi. - " Leaping back from her chair, the woman in black reached for a sheath by her belt in a smooth, practiced motion (marred only slightly by a noticeable swaying), drawing forth an ornate dagger. " Sicarii Gosunkugi, yet another of the denizens of Ranma 2096 - "...Miller, I tell him, you're keeping her on too tight a leash. It could cost us our jobs, and Heaven isn't much for layoff benefits..." Reference to the Heavenly agents in the Ukyou vs Skeride arc of R2096 - "...I'm sorry, Mr. Ishamael, but we're fresh out of positions. I wouldn't be discouraged, though. We aren't the only Hell in the realities..." Wheel of Time reference. - "...I HOPE THE STABLE IS ADEQUATE. BINKY GETS CROSS, OTHERWISE. TRY THE NACHOS, BY THE WAY..." A tip of the hat to Pratchett, his character Death, and Death's horse, Binky. Yes, Binky. - "She had the bouillabaisse. He ordered wine." Obscure 'Dr. Otto and the Riddle of the Gloom BEam' reference. - " "Tsereba. Reiko Tsereba." answered the woman. " Reiko Tsereba is a character from the stories "The Letters" and "The Shadows" by Erin Mills. - " o/~ Have another yaki, o/~ Ukyou sang. " The Ranma cast as inserted into the musical "Sweeney Todd". - "Ranma-kun, you disappoint me." Crossing over into Richard Lawson's "Appearances", where a psychotic Kasumi dominates the Tendo home. - " He didn't know how, he didn't know why, but Ryo Muhoshin found himself standing deep within a majestic city made entirely of crystals. " Yes, that's Crystal Tokyo of the Sailor Moon universe that Muhoshin is wrecking. It had to be done.

Souji had known it was a mistake to get a job with an

American firm. He had known it. But he had taken the job anyway,

which was why he was currently driving home in a state of very,

very high stress.

Amalgamated Consolidated Inc had no company song. No sense

of community. And the coffee was terrible.

And the upper-management, Americans all...horrible. Geki-san

had goofed a bit on the Likoda account, and the boss had called

him in to yell at him. He had stared straight at him with a nasty

look the whole time, until finally poor Geki was in tears. Did the

boss comfort him, tell him it was all right? No! He looked

_embarrassed_, mumbled something, and left. How unfeeling!

As he glanced to the left, towards a house built alongside a

training hall, a few images registered through the front

windows.

A long metal streak, glinting, being swung in an arc.

Something falling to the ground.

An eruption of searing, brilliant blue light.

And then the car was past. Souji blinked. That had been odd.

He spent the remander of the drive mulling over poor Geki-san,

his uncaring boss, and what the blue flash could have been. By

the time he walked up the steps to his apartment, he still had no

answer.

He tossed his jacket on the sofa, poured himself a drink, and

turned on the news.

"...just arrived at the corner from the Tendo Dojo. We have

what looks to be a woman's decapitated body, lying on the floor

next to her own severed head..."

S

by Mike Loader

Based on characters created by R. Takahashi and developed by

Richard Lawson. Lawson's work used with permission.

"This is nuts. The case was solved, damn it!"

Detective Okasa paced the floor of her office, slowly wearing a

track into the already-thin carpet, hands balled into fists. Her

partner, knowing this mood all too well, sighed glumly. It was

going to be a long day.

"Maybe he was lying. I mean..."

"No, he wasn't. I'm sure of it." She stopped, sank into her

chair, and turned to face him. "Look, you know me. Have I ever

been wrong about this kind of thing before? The Saotome kid was

telling the truth. Or thought he was, which amounts to about the

same thing." A look of frustration crossed her face, and she

sighed. "Besides, even if he _were_ lying...he can't possibly be

guilty.

"He goes home from his interview with me. He's safe. I just

got done telling him that the deaths of Kuonji, Hibiki, and the

two Kuno nutcases weren't his fault. If he were the killer, he's

just been told he's home free."

"Maybe he didn't believe you..."

"So he kills someone else to get me off his trail? Nope. Doesn't

make sense."

He leaned back. "Look, Okasa, the kid might be a nut. Split

personality, or whatever the term is. Maybe he thought he was

telling the truth, went home, and flipped out again."

She nodded. "I thought that might be it too. But motive aside,

he _couldn't_ have done it. Look, about an hour after he gets

home the emergency dispatch gets the call..."

TRANSCRIPT OF CALL #235, STATION 5, 3AM 7/5/96

Station: Emergency Dispatch, can we help you?

Caller: Oh yes, yes you can. Ranma-kun's been stabbed in the

stomach, and he's bleeding a bit...

Station: Okay, Miss, where is he, we'll get an ambulance there

right away...

Caller: The Tendo Dojo, Nerima ward, a few blocks down from

Furinkan.

Station: Okay, they're on their way...just stay calm, Miss. Do you

know how to make a pressure bandage?

Caller: Oh yes! I already put on on his stomach...was that right?

Station: That was very good, yes. Now, what I need you to do is...

Caller: Thank you for your help.

END OF CALL

"The person who made the call was Kasumi Tendo. Everyone we

played it to who had ever heard the girl agreed on it. After

Ranma was stabbed, she went into the living room and called the

ambulance. Just the ambulance. Not the police. As if whatever

had happened was over, and the only concern was getting

Saotome to a doctor."

"Some people are like that, Okasa. So worried about another

person that they don't look out for themselves." He leaned back

in his chair. "And it sounded like this Kasumi was that kind of

person."

The detective sighed. "Anyways, the ambulance arrives about

five minutes later. They hear screams from the dojo, run in..."

TESTIMONY OF RENKI KASI, PARAMEDIC, 7/5/96

Okasa: So you heard screams coming from the dojo building?

Kasi: Yeah, a real shrill, bad scream. The kind you, uh, hear at

accidents, when a mother just lost a child.

Okasa: What did you do then?

Kasi: Well, Hikaru and I ran in, to, you know, see what was going

on. We figured that the stab victim was in there.

Okasa: And what did you see upon entering?

Kasi: It was bad, real bad. This girl is the one doing the

screaming, about seventeen or so, just standing there and

shrieking, and on the floor is this other girl, dead, with her head

off.

Okasa: That would be Kasumi Tendo.

Kasi: I guess, yeah. Yellow dress and an apron, and the head's

been set on top of the body, staring out at the door. Over in the

corner is this guy, seventeen, sixteen, with a bandage wrapped

around his stomach. He's just sitting there, looking a little

bleary-eyed, not quite all there. My first thought is that the

guy's on drugs or something.

Okasa: What happened then?

Kasi: Well, I head over towards the guy, and Hikaru goes over to

the girl, when all of a sudden she starts screaming "KASUMI! NO

NO NO! BAKA!" and she runs at the guy like she's going to kill him.

Hikaru and I grab her, and sedate her, and for a bit it was scary.

It was like we were trying to hold down a gorilla, not a teenage

girl.

Okasa: And you then treated Saotome?

Kasi: The kid? Yeah, we got him and the girl to the hospital, and

called the cops and the coroner.

Okasa: You didn't see anyone else around? None of the family?

Kasi: No, but we didn't go in the house or anything. We leave that

sort of thing for the cops, you know?

Okasa: A wise policy. Thank you for your time, sir.

Kasi: No sweat. Hey, catch the guy who did this, okay? That kinda

stuff is just wrong.

END OF TRANSCRIPT

"So I arrive, and the body-boys and forensics jocks, and we get

to work. We find plenty of stuff, all right, but the stuff doesn't

make much sense.

"Kasumi Tendo was killed by a sharp, bladed weapon...probably

a sword of some sort. There was no such weapon at the scene.

There was, however, a tanto lying some distance away from the

body, with blood on the blade. DNA says it's Saotome's blood;

that and the shape of the wound say it's the weapon he was

stabbed with. It had two sets of prints on it, his and Kasumi's. In

the main house...at first we thought a bomb had gone off in the

living room. Someone went nuts in there, slashed up everything,

broke furniture...a few things looked like they actually were

blown up, but there weren't any traces of explosive material..."

"So what did the two witnesses have to say? Wouldn't that

clear things up?"

She scowled. "Yeah. Clear as mud."

TESTIMONY OF AKANE TENDO, 7/5/96

Okasa: Akane-san? I'd like to ask you a few questions. Can you

tell me what happened yesterday? (Time passes) Akane-san, we

want to catch whoever did this, but we need your help. Can you

tell me what happened?

Akane: Kasumi's dead.

Okasa: I know. I'm very sorry, Akane-san.

Akane: Ranma no baka.

Okasa: Ranma? What about Ranma?

Akane: He just sat there...I came downstairs, there was a noise,

blue light...

Okasa: Blue light? A explosion?

Akane: Someone broke the shogi table. Broke it in half.

Okasa: What happened after you came downstairs?

Akane: I tried to find...something, and I went in, in the dojo,

Kasumi, Kasumi-oneechan. Dead. Dead. Kasumi-oneechan.

Okasa: Akane-san, this is very important. What was Ranma

doing?

Akane: Baka. Baka. He just sat there and held his stomach. Baka.

Kasumi.

Sensei: I'm afraid I can't allow any more questions right now,

detective.

Okasa: I understand. Goodbye, Akane-san.

END OF TRANSCRIPT

"Maybe in a few weeks I can get more out of her. Right now..."

"What about Saotome?"

"Oh, he was drugged, all right. Not like the paramedic thought,

though. Someone slipped him a mickey finn, just enough to keep

him awake but immobile."

"So he saw the whole thing?"

"Yes and no."

TESTIMONY OF RANMA SAOTOME, 7/5/96

Okasa: So. I hear you'll be fine in a month or two.

Ranma: Yeah. That's what the docs tell me.

Okasa: Want to tell me what happened?

Ranma: Kasumi. She was the one behind the killings. Ukyou,

Ryouga, Cologne...

Okasa: But the Kunos were found to be responsible for that,

Ranma-san. You said so yourself.

Ranma: Yeah, I know. She used them.

Okasa: So you killed her?

Ranma: No. She drugged me, brought me into the dojo, and started

to cut me open. Woulda looked like suicide.

Okasa: But you're alive, and she isn't. Why?

Ranma: I dunno...someone came in, and then...I don't know. I think

the drug was causing me to hallucinate, that and the wound. I

kept seeing more than one Kasumi, and someone shoved her head

in my face after it had been severed...

Okasa: You say you were hallucinating. Is it possible that you

also hallucinated Kasumi as the murderer?

Ranma: I don't...I'm not sure. It seemed so clear at the time, but

now...the painkillers they got me on are making it a bit hard to

focus.

Okasa: Did you kill Kasumi?

Ranma: What? No! I told you, someone else came in and did it. I

think. Everything after she...started to cut me is a bit hazy.

Okasa: Did you see Kasumi use the phone before you entered the

dojo?

Ranma: No. I knocked it over while she was carrying me out, but

she didn't even pick it up off the floor. Why?

Okasa: Because Kasumi seems to be the one who called the

ambulance to come get you. We have a tape of her voice telling

the operator that you had a stomach wound, and needed help. Do

you have any idea why she would have done that?

Ranma: No...not unless she wanted them to arrive too late...do you

know where the Tendos are?

Okasa: They're with Akane. She found the body, and...well, she's

under psychiatric observation.

Ranma: Damn. Is she bad?

Okasa: Hard to say.

Ranma: Damn.

Okasa: If you do see her again, don't mention your suspicions of

Kasumi to her. I don't think she's in a position to handle it.

Ranma: It's a bit more than a suspicion...yeah, I won't tell her.

Okasa: Good. Thank you for your time, Ranma-san.

END OF TRANSCRIPT

"He thinks Kasumi did it, huh? The other murders?"

"Yeah. Everyone else says the girl was a living saint. I think

that in between the drug and the murders...he's a little paranoid.

Don't blame him, either."

"So why don't you think he did it?"

"He _couldn't_ have. Look, Kasumi calls for the ambulance and

tells them he's got a stomach wound. Which he did. No way would

he be able to cut her head off while drugged and bleeding to

death." She sighed. "I can't even build up a chain of events.

Logically, things had to have happened in this order; Ranma is

stabbed, Kasumi applies a bandage and calls the ambulance,

Kasumi is killed. But why didn't she call the police? Did she

really drug Ranma, like he says? And who ripped up the living

room?" Her fist came down hard on the edge of the desk. "It

doesn't make sense."

The phone rang, and she picked it up. "Hello?"

After a few minutes, she hung up. "That was the lab. According

to them, Kasumi was killed _before_ the call was made. Which

is, of course, impossible."

"A tape recording, maybe?"

"That answers questions? Nice try."

Silence for a second.

"And what the hell does "Kaeri Ni" mean?"

"Huh?"

"It was carved into one of the bits of sofa."

"Odd."

"Yup."

"Look at the bright side, Okasa. This'll make a hell of a story."

"Yeah. Well, I'm getting some sleep. Maybe something'll turn up

tomorrow."

In a rain-swept cemetery, close and yet unimaginably distant

from Okasa's office, blue fire erupted. A figure staggered out of

it, limmed by the flames, and collapsed.

Almost there...

-finis?-


	10. Chapter 10

Souji had known it was a mistake to get a job with an American firm. He had known it. But he had taken the job anyway, which was why he was currently driving home in a state of very, very high stress.

Amalgamated Consolidated Inc had no company song. No sense of community. And the coffee was terrible.

And the upper-management, Americans all...horrible. Geki-san had goofed a bit on the Likoda account, and the boss had called him in to yell at him. He had stared straight at him with a nasty look the whole time, until finally poor Geki was in tears. Did the boss comfort him, tell him it was all right? No! He looked _embarrassed_, mumbled something, and left. How unfeeling!

As he glanced to the left, towards a house built alongside a training hall, a few images registered through the front windows.

A long metal streak, glinting, being swung in an arc.

Something falling to the ground.

An eruption of searing, brilliant blue light.

And then the car was past. Souji blinked. That had been odd.

He spent the remander of the drive mulling over poor Geki-san, his uncaring boss, and what the blue flash could have been. By the time he walked up the steps to his apartment, he still had no answer.

He tossed his jacket on the sofa, poured himself a drink, and turned on the news.

"...just arrived at the corner from the Tendo Dojo. We have what looks to be a woman's decapitated body, lying on the floor next to her own severed head..."

================================== ================================== by Mike Loader -  
Based on characters created by R. Takahashi and developed by Richard Lawson. Lawson's work used with permission.  
-

"This is nuts. The case was solved, damn it!"

Detective Okasa paced the floor of her office, slowly wearing a track into the already-thin carpet, hands balled into fists. Her partner, knowing this mood all too well, sighed glumly. It was going to be a long day.

"Maybe he was lying. I mean..."

"No, he wasn't. I'm sure of it." She stopped, sank into her chair, and turned to face him. "Look, you know me. Have I ever been wrong about this kind of thing before? The Saotome kid was telling the truth. Or thought he was, which amounts to about the same thing." A look of frustration crossed her face, and she sighed. "Besides, even if he _were_ lying...he can't possibly be guilty.

"He goes home from his interview with me. He's safe. I just got done telling him that the deaths of Kuonji, Hibiki, and the two Kuno nutcases weren't his fault. If he were the killer, he's just been told he's home free."

"Maybe he didn't believe you..."

"So he kills someone else to get me off his trail? Nope. Doesn't make sense."

He leaned back. "Look, Okasa, the kid might be a nut. Split personality, or whatever the term is. Maybe he thought he was telling the truth, went home, and flipped out again."

She nodded. "I thought that might be it too. But motive aside, he _couldn't_ have done it. Look, about an hour after he gets home the emergency dispatch gets the call..."

TRANSCRIPT OF CALL #235, STATION 5, 3AM 7/5/96

Station: Emergency Dispatch, can we help you?

Caller: Oh yes, yes you can. Ranma-kun's been stabbed in the stomach, and he's bleeding a bit...

Station: Okay, Miss, where is he, we'll get an ambulance there right away...

Caller: The Tendo Dojo, Nerima ward, a few blocks down from Furinkan.

Station: Okay, they're on their way...just stay calm, Miss. Do you know how to make a pressure bandage?

Caller: Oh yes! I already put on on his stomach...was that right?

Station: That was very good, yes. Now, what I need you to do is...

Caller: Thank you for your help.

END OF CALL

"The person who made the call was Kasumi Tendo. Everyone we played it to who had ever heard the girl agreed on it. After Ranma was stabbed, she went into the living room and called the ambulance. Just the ambulance. Not the police. As if whatever had happened was over, and the only concern was getting Saotome to a doctor."

"Some people are like that, Okasa. So worried about another person that they don't look out for themselves." He leaned back in his chair. "And it sounded like this Kasumi was that kind of person."

The detective sighed. "Anyways, the ambulance arrives about five minutes later. They hear screams from the dojo, run in..."

TESTIMONY OF RENKI KASI, PARAMEDIC, 7/5/96

Okasa: So you heard screams coming from the dojo building?

Kasi: Yeah, a real shrill, bad scream. The kind you, uh, hear at accidents, when a mother just lost a child.

Okasa: What did you do then?

Kasi: Well, Hikaru and I ran in, to, you know, see what was going on. We figured that the stab victim was in there.

Okasa: And what did you see upon entering?

Kasi: It was bad, real bad. This girl is the one doing the screaming, about seventeen or so, just standing there and shrieking, and on the floor is this other girl, dead, with her head off.

Okasa: That would be Kasumi Tendo.

Kasi: I guess, yeah. Yellow dress and an apron, and the head's been set on top of the body, staring out at the door. Over in the corner is this guy, seventeen, sixteen, with a bandage wrapped around his stomach. He's just sitting there, looking a little bleary-eyed, not quite all there. My first thought is that the guy's on drugs or something.

Okasa: What happened then?

Kasi: Well, I head over towards the guy, and Hikaru goes over to the girl, when all of a sudden she starts screaming "KASUMI! NO NO NO! BAKA!" and she runs at the guy like she's going to kill him. Hikaru and I grab her, and sedate her, and for a bit it was scary. It was like we were trying to hold down a gorilla, not a teenage girl.

Okasa: And you then treated Saotome?

Kasi: The kid? Yeah, we got him and the girl to the hospital, and called the cops and the coroner.

Okasa: You didn't see anyone else around? None of the family?

Kasi: No, but we didn't go in the house or anything. We leave that sort of thing for the cops, you know?

Okasa: A wise policy. Thank you for your time, sir.

Kasi: No sweat. Hey, catch the guy who did this, okay? That kinda stuff is just wrong.

END OF TRANSCRIPT

"So I arrive, and the body-boys and forensics jocks, and we get to work. We find plenty of stuff, all right, but the stuff doesn't make much sense.

"Kasumi Tendo was killed by a sharp, bladed weapon...probably a sword of some sort. There was no such weapon at the scene. There was, however, a tanto lying some distance away from the body, with blood on the blade. DNA says it's Saotome's blood; that and the shape of the wound say it's the weapon he was stabbed with. It had two sets of prints on it, his and Kasumi's. In the main house...at first we thought a bomb had gone off in the living room. Someone went nuts in there, slashed up everything, broke furniture...a few things looked like they actually were blown up, but there weren't any traces of explosive material..."

"So what did the two witnesses have to say? Wouldn't that clear things up?"

She scowled. "Yeah. Clear as mud."

TESTIMONY OF AKANE TENDO, 7/5/96

Okasa: Akane-san? I'd like to ask you a few questions. Can you tell me what happened yesterday? (Time passes) Akane-san, we want to catch whoever did this, but we need your help. Can you tell me what happened?

Akane: Kasumi's dead.

Okasa: I know. I'm very sorry, Akane-san.

Akane: Ranma no baka.

Okasa: Ranma? What about Ranma?

Akane: He just sat there...I came downstairs, there was a noise, blue light...

Okasa: Blue light? A explosion?

Akane: Someone broke the shogi table. Broke it in half.

Okasa: What happened after you came downstairs?

Akane: I tried to find...something, and I went in, in the dojo, Kasumi, Kasumi-oneechan. Dead. Dead. Kasumi-oneechan.

Okasa: Akane-san, this is very important. What was Ranma doing?

Akane: Baka. Baka. He just sat there and held his stomach. Baka. Kasumi.

Sensei: I'm afraid I can't allow any more questions right now, detective.

Okasa: I understand. Goodbye, Akane-san.

END OF TRANSCRIPT

"Maybe in a few weeks I can get more out of her. Right now..."

"What about Saotome?"

"Oh, he was drugged, all right. Not like the paramedic thought, though. Someone slipped him a mickey finn, just enough to keep him awake but immobile."

"So he saw the whole thing?"

"Yes and no."

TESTIMONY OF RANMA SAOTOME, 7/5/96

Okasa: So. I hear you'll be fine in a month or two.

Ranma: Yeah. That's what the docs tell me.

Okasa: Want to tell me what happened?

Ranma: Kasumi. She was the one behind the killings. Ukyou, Ryouga, Cologne...

Okasa: But the Kunos were found to be responsible for that, Ranma-san. You said so yourself.

Ranma: Yeah, I know. She used them.

Okasa: So you killed her?

Ranma: No. She drugged me, brought me into the dojo, and started to cut me open. Woulda looked like suicide.

Okasa: But you're alive, and she isn't. Why?

Ranma: I dunno...someone came in, and then...I don't know. I think the drug was causing me to hallucinate, that and the wound. I kept seeing more than one Kasumi, and someone shoved her head in my face after it had been severed...

Okasa: You say you were hallucinating. Is it possible that you also hallucinated Kasumi as the murderer?

Ranma: I don't...I'm not sure. It seemed so clear at the time, but now...the painkillers they got me on are making it a bit hard to focus.

Okasa: Did you kill Kasumi?

Ranma: What? No! I told you, someone else came in and did it. I think. Everything after she...started to cut me is a bit hazy.

Okasa: Did you see Kasumi use the phone before you entered the dojo?

Ranma: No. I knocked it over while she was carrying me out, but she didn't even pick it up off the floor. Why?

Okasa: Because Kasumi seems to be the one who called the ambulance to come get you. We have a tape of her voice telling the operator that you had a stomach wound, and needed help. Do you have any idea why she would have done that?

Ranma: No...not unless she wanted them to arrive too late...do you know where the Tendos are?

Okasa: They're with Akane. She found the body, and...well, she's under psychiatric observation.

Ranma: Damn. Is she bad?

Okasa: Hard to say.

Ranma: Damn.

Okasa: If you do see her again, don't mention your suspicions of Kasumi to her. I don't think she's in a position to handle it.

Ranma: It's a bit more than a suspicion...yeah, I won't tell her.

Okasa: Good. Thank you for your time, Ranma-san.

END OF TRANSCRIPT

"He thinks Kasumi did it, huh? The other murders?"

"Yeah. Everyone else says the girl was a living saint. I think that in between the drug and the murders...he's a little paranoid. Don't blame him, either."

"So why don't you think he did it?"

"He _couldn't_ have. Look, Kasumi calls for the ambulance and tells them he's got a stomach wound. Which he did. No way would he be able to cut her head off while drugged and bleeding to death." She sighed. "I can't even build up a chain of events. Logically, things had to have happened in this order; Ranma is stabbed, Kasumi applies a bandage and calls the ambulance, Kasumi is killed. But why didn't she call the police? Did she really drug Ranma, like he says? And who ripped up the living room?" Her fist came down hard on the edge of the desk. "It doesn't make sense."

The phone rang, and she picked it up. "Hello?"

After a few minutes, she hung up. "That was the lab. According to them, Kasumi was killed _before_ the call was made. Which is, of course, impossible."

"A tape recording, maybe?"

"That answers questions? Nice try."

Silence for a second.

"And what the hell does "Kaeri Ni" mean?"

"Huh?"

"It was carved into one of the bits of sofa."

"Odd."

"Yup."

"Look at the bright side, Okasa. This'll make a hell of a story."

"Yeah. Well, I'm getting some sleep. Maybe something'll turn up tomorrow."

In a rain-swept cemetery, close and yet unimaginably distant from Okasa's office, blue fire erupted. A figure staggered out of it, limmed by the flames, and collapsed.

Almost there...

-finis?-


	11. Chapter 11

This is a side story to Converging Series act 7,  
as well as a side story to Erin Mills' 'The Shadows'

JOB OFFER by Erin Mills

The universe, as has often been observed, is a frigtheningly big place. Not only is it infinite in terms of space and time, but add the complexities of an infinite amount of realities being bounded by borders that are easily breached by those with the knowhow, and it becomes so vast as to make major cosmologists want to give up and spend the rest of their lives off in grassy meadows tending sheep. Naturally, anything that is this complex is bound, over time, to develop some sort of intelligence and to take an active interest in it's ailments. The universe has been sentient for quite a few millenia now. However, it's intelligence is more a sort of instinct rather than any logical calculative type of thought. Kind of like an animal. Many animals have portectors in the society of the human race and the universe is no exception. The "Save the Universe" Foundation has observed with dismay the alarming number of people that are finding ways to break through the universe's carefully crafted barriers with out so much as a "by-your-leave" and then proceed to cause major screw ups in the realities they invade. Therefore, They have decided that what these wayward travellers need to be kept in check is someone to keep an eye on them and make sure they don't turn the realities they visit into a hopless mess of causality. A guide, if you will.

This is the story of how one ordinary woman caught in an extraordinary event became one of these guides...

The Nerima district of Tokyo has long been the migraine headache of the universe. Something about this collection of streets, shops and homes tends to invite more mayhem, chaos, and cross-dimensional rifts per square meter than the now infamous Unseen University of the equally infamous Discworld off in one of the more neglected realities. It, therefore, seemed logical that the Guide for Nerima be one from a Nerima where things had settled down somewhat...

Reiko Tsereba, late of the Tokyo Police, tossed her shoulder length black hair and sipped her tea while looking out the window of Ucchan's. It had been nearly two months since the death of Ukyou Kuonji and three weeks since Ranma Saotome's unsuccessful attempt to bring her back from the dead. During those three weeks, Reiko had not had the best of luck.  
The police, deciding in the way of all bureaucratic organizations confronted with something they don't understand, had buried the incidents surrounding Ukyou's death and the battles with the malevolent Ki-Spirit that had robbed her of her life. As a result the grave robbing charge against Ranma had been dropped and the aiding and abetting charge Reiko was facing for helping him resulted in a deal; The Tokyo PD dropped the charges and Reiko tendered her resignation. Case closed.  
I really can't blame them though, she had thought at the time. If one of MY officers came to me with some wild tale about a soul-sucking Ki-Spirit, I probably wouldn't believe it either.  
Reiko sighed and looked at the clock. 11:30. Her resignation would be final at noon. "Is everything all right, Reiko-san?" Akane asked coming from the back of the store. Reiko was startled out of her memories and looked at the younger girl. "Yes, everything's fine, Akane." the disgraced officer replied. "As fine as it's going to get, anyway." "I'm sorry you lost your job." Akane said. "It's all our fault." "No, it isn't. It isn't anyone's fault. Just like it isn't Ukyou's fault for dying when she did." Reiko glanced at the portrait of Ukyou hanging on the far wall. "It's all right. I'll still have my memories. And this..." She reached under her jacket and produced a .45 automatic pistol. She removed the clip and placed it on the bar. Akane's eyes widened. "They let you keep that?" "They had no choice." Reiko said. "It's mine. It belonged to my father when he was on the force. He left it to me after he died." "He must have been proud of you." Akane said. "He was. But not as proud as he would have been if I'd been his son, instead of his daughter. He always wanted a boy. Anyway, I vowed that I'd make him proud of me by becoming as good an officer as he was. He always thought I'd make Captain one day. So did I. But now..." "What will you do?" "Probably what every other ex-cop does whose been forced into an early retirement. I'll become a private detective, spying on cheating couples who want divorces,  
fighting with bill collectors. The pay'll stink, but at least it's a living." Akane nodded sadly.

It should be noted at this point that Reiko Tsereba had quite a few qualifications that would lead to the most important lunch date she would ever have. First, she had what few people in her universe did;  
knowledge that the universe was indeed a great deal stranger than people think. As such, she could adapt quickly to bizzare occurances and people. Second, she had the tenacity to deal with those who were somewhat rigid in their beliefs. She had done this with regard to her partner Lt. Keibu Watanabe when Ranma was a fugitive wanted for grave robbing. Finally, she had the skills honed during her ten years on the police force that would come in handy if any unforseen trouble should occur. She was a natural athlete.  
She had some training in several martial arts, and was unique in being the best female marksman on the force in her version of Nerima. So, when a large silver car came zooming past the Ucchan's at fifty miles per hour, with what looked like a small nuclear bomb attached to the roof, Reiko did what came naturally...

"I'm going after them!" Reiko pronounced. "You can't possibly catch up with them!" Akane protested. "They'll be miles away." "The streets around here are narrow and curve at unnatural angles. They'll have to decrease speed soon.  
Besides, my resignation isn't official until noon. I still have thirty minutes left." Reiko snatched up her gun,  
slammed in the clip, and clicked off the safety. "Which way to the roof?"

She found the car a few blocks away. She was beginning to see why Ranma and most of his friends went by rooftop whenever they travelled around town. There were no people or buildings to get in the way. She leaped from the roof she was on to the ground,  
startling a few people in the process. The car was only a few hundred meters away. There was a cab coming down the street. Reiko dashed in front of it, causing the driver to slam on the brakes.  
She got in the passenger side of the car and flashed her badge. "Sgt. Tsereba, Tokyo PD. I'm comandeering this vehicle. Follow that silver car." The cabbie complied and in moments they had caught up with the car. It was apparently heading towards downtown Tokyo. "What the hell are they doing?" Reiko thought.

Inside the silver car, the driver of the car turned to his companion. "What the hell is she doing?" he demanded. His companion, a young woman looked out the rear view mirror. "I don't know. She just jumped in the cab and followed us. I think she's a cop." "Perfect." the driver sighed. "Well, we don't have the time to deal with her. We've got to get this damn reactor back to the Cafe before they realize that it's missing." "I still can't believe you stole that damn thing. What were you thinking?" "I wasn't being paid to think! I was being paid to steal the thing, strap it to the car and tear around the streets here for an hour then bring it back." "You got PAID?!"

"What the-?!" The phrase exploded from the lips of both Reiko and the cab driver as the woman in the passenger's seat reached out and began to throttle the driver. The silver car swerved all over the street, knocking over garbage cans, toppling a few newspaper kiosks, and scaring the living bejeezus out of a few pedestrians. "Right." Reiko said. She pulled out her pistol,  
double checked the clip, and clicked off the safety. "Get as close to that car as you can without putting us or anyone else in danger," she ordered. The cabbie nodded and was about to put the pedal to the metal, when he saw Reiko pull her hair back, secure it with a rubber band, and lean dangerously out the open window of the cab.  
"What the hell are you doing?!" The cabbie asked. "I'm going for the tires." Reiko responded. "Now shut up and drive." Reiko blinked back the tears caused by the wind streaming over her face. She leveled the pistol with her right hand and used her left to steady it. Soon she felt the trance take over. "The trance" was how Reiko described the feeling that came over her when she knew a shot was going to hit exactly where she wanted to. The world seemed to cease existing.  
Sounds, smells, everything faded into the background. There was only her, the gun and the target. She waited until it felt just right...and squeezed.

The rear driver side tire exploded. The car began swerving even more crazily than before. It was obvious that what little control the driver had over the vehicle was now long gone. "GET OUT OF THE WAY!" Reiko yelled to the pedestrians on the street. The car did a 180-degree turn, flipping itself onto the driver's side in the process and proceeded to slide another 50 meters before coming to rest against a storefront. In the distance, sirens could be heard. The cab pulled to a stop, and Reiko leaped out of the car. She flashed her badge to the growing crowd. "Tokyo Police! Stay back!" She walked up to the car cautiously, her gun at the ready. She called to the occupants of the car. "This is Sergeant Tsereba of the Tokyo Police Department! Step out of the car and keep your hands where I can see them!"  
Nothing happened. Reiko frowned and stepped closer,  
ready for an attack. "You have until the count of three, then I'm coming in after you! One!" Silence. "Two!" There was a sound of movement in the car. Reiko tensed. "Three!" She charged forward, keeping low, then leaped up to the upturned side of the car and pulled open the passenger door. She stared for a moment in shock at what she saw. "What the hell-?"

The car exploded in a flash of blue light. The assembled crowd threw their hands over their eyes in pain. After a moment the blaze faded, revealing...

Nothing. There was no car, no debris, no bodies mangled beyond all recognition. Only the damage to the street itself and a pair of skid marks even indicated that a car had ever been there.

In the distance a clock struck noon.

End of Act I

Reiko tried to see through the haze of her vision.  
Trying to make sense of the colors and sounds that were assaulting her. After a few moments the images formed into a crystal chandelier hanging from a ceiling. And the sounds became voices.

"...sure she's going to be all right?" "Yes, perfectly. The force shield I installed in the reactor kept her from being lost in the timestream and suffering any permanent ill effects." "Surely you must have realized how dangerous that course of action was, Doctor." "It was the only way he could think of to get her here. I didn't like it any more than you do." "Excuse me, Doctor, but your table is ready." "Excellent, we can continue this discussion over lunch, Ambassador. Come along, Jennifer, David. " "Don't you think we oughta stay with her?" "Believe me, David, things are going to be confusing enough for her as it is, let's not complicate the situation." "If you say so."

After the voices had left, Reiko groaned and sat up.  
She instantly regretted it. Her head hadn't felt like this since the morning after her high school graduation when she found herself buck naked at the top of Tokyo Tower with a cow and an unconscious Mormon missionary. Talking her way out of THAT had been fun. Anyway, she appeared to be in some sort of reception area of what looked like a posh restaurant. There was a sofa, a reservation desk and a six armed gorilla in a tuxedo looking at her with faint disapproval.  
"Excuse me, madam, but do you have a reservation?" The voice sounded familiar. Reiko had heard it before on some old records her old roomate had brought from England. What was the guy's name. Cleese?  
"Madam?" Reiko realized that she hadn't answered the ape. She struggled to her feet. "Just a second..." she said. After making sure her legs would support her weight, she straightened her clothes and took the rubber band out of her hair. "Now, what was that again?" she asked, studiously ignoring the fact that she was talking to a six armed ape with a tuxedo and a British accent. "May I have your name, please, madam?" the ape asked,  
a bit exasperated. "Reiko Tsereba." The ape gestured her over to the reservation podium and glanced down the list. "T..T's... TS...TSE.. ah, here we are. Tsereba,  
Reiko, lunch date with Mr. Lazlo, West Wing, the Albatross Room. Does madam require an escort?" "That would be nice, seeing as how I've never been here before." "Most certainly, madam. Oh, Ed!" A large shaggy pile of purple fur bounded out of nowhere to the podium.  
"Ed, would you kindly show Ms. Tsereba to her table?  
She's having lunch with Mr. Lazlo." "Ed" made no sound but shivered in a bizzare sequence of shakes. "I know you don't like Mr. Lazlo, Ed, but liking the customers isn't what you're getting paid for is it? Now,  
kindly show Ms. Tsereba to her table...or do I have to get Mr. Jobe in here?" This was the first time Reiko had ever seen hair stand on end, without apparently being attatched to anything. The ape turned to her. "I'm terribly sorry for the delay, madam. May I check your sidearm?" Reiko reluctantly surrendered her father's gun and accepted the claim check for it.  
"You may pick it up when you leave. And may I be the first to welcome you to the Cafe Eternium."

Ed led Reiko through several rooms, each one having a different atmosphere than the others. She was surpised to see so many identical versions of people she knew. There were Akanes, Ranmas, Shampoos, Mousses and Ryogas. And if she looked, she even saw a few Ukyous in the mix. She resisted the temptation to go over and introduce herself though. After all, Ukyou would have no idea who she was anyway.

If one is wondering why Reiko seems to be so accepting of the current situation, it is because the initial shock of going through a time and reality warp to the Cafe and having a conversation with a large ape and a pile of fur has now worn off, and she has come to the conclusion that there is, in fact, a completely logical reason for all of this...

"I'm dead, aren't I?" Reiko asked the gentleman across the table. Lazlo had turned out to be an albino gaijin in a white linen suit. He was very eloquent and neat in his speech. "Dead?" Lazlo repeated. "No, of course not. Whatever gave you that idea?" "Well, the fact that I'm seeing things here that couldn't possibly exist for one. As well as multiple copies of people I know. Now, I'm not much on religion but it seems like the only place for this kind of thing to happen is in the afterlife." Lazlo smiled. "Amazing, simply amazing. You manage to come up with a completely logical answer to such an illogical place. They were right in deciding on you." A waiter came up and asked for their order. Reiko ordered the shrimp cocktail while Lazlo had prime rib. "So," Reiko said after the waiter had departed. "If I'm not dead, where am I?" "It's a little difficult to explain. Have you ever read much science fiction?"

An hour later, Lazlo had explained the basics of transreality travel over their main courses. Reiko had listened, asked questions, and, with the aid of testemony from several other diners, believed every word of it.

"Okay then," she said, putting down her fork. "What do you want with me? I'm pretty sure it wasn't just to give me a very nice lunch and expand my knowledge of reality." "Quite right," said Lazlo, reaching into an inner pocket of his jacket. "My organization wants to give you a job. A very special job." He tossed a round, brass object on the table. "We want you to become a Guide." Reiko picked up the piece of brass. It was hinged like a pocket watch and was engraved with several hexagons bordering on one another as well as the legend "Reality Is Not An Absolute." Reiko opened the object. It turned out to be a compass. It had all sixteen points and a needle, but the indicators for the directions were missing. "What is this?" Reiko asked. "It's a compass." Lazlo replied. "A Reality Compass.  
It's designed to let you track down wayward dimension hoppers and help them get around to where they need to be.  
It doesn't have any directions on it because you aren't officially a Guide yet. But if you accept, then it will give two permanent settings, wherever you decide to make your home and the Cafe Eternium. Other settings will appear when you need to track down someone." "What do you mean 'wherever I decide to make my home?'" "I'm afraid, Ms. Tsereba that, as far as your home dimension is concerned, you're dead. I'm afraid Jennifer and David weren't as careful as they should have been when I asked them to bring you here." "Okay, I'm willing to accept that. It was a pretty big flash of light. Probably scared the hell out of the crowd. But I've still got more questions. For instance, why me?" "We saw your handling of the Ki-Spirit that had killed Ukyou Kuonji in your home universe. We also saw how you were unjustly forced to resign. We consider being a private investigator to be a waste of your talents when they could be made useful as a Guide." "Exactly who do you work for, Mr. Lazlo?" "I am a member of an organization called the "Save the Universe" Foundation. Similar to the Save the Whales campaign on Earth. We are looking to protect the universe from those who would either accidentally or purposefully attempt to change other realities for their own ends." "Sounds like a very noble goal. How successful are you?" "There was a slight problem some years ago with a group of megalomaniacs that attempted to become an immortal being with godlike powers but we manged to straighten them out...and then there is that fiasco in Washington, D.C. but that is being sorted out as we speak. By and large, however,  
we tend to keep things relatively stable, so I would suppose you'd call us a successful enterprise." It was time for the big question. "What would the job entail?" The deal was fairly straightforward. It seemed that every so often, a group of dimension hoppers managed to make a total hash out of every reality they visited. Whenever this occured she was to meet them at the Cafe and proceed to help them around the realities until everything was put right again. She would be exactly what the title was. A Guide. "Well, Ms. Tsereba? What do you say?" Reiko thought for a moment about everything she had seen and heard. It seemed crazy, but she was convinced that it was all true. And if Lazlo was to be believed, she had nothing to go back to anyway. "Sure." she answered.

THE BEGINNING... 


	12. Chapter 12

Act 8

Written by

RpM, Mike Loader, Ross McKenzie, Chris Willmore,

David Tai, Kevin Eav and Caroline Seawright

~rpm/converging_series

Act VIII

The story so far...

ACT I:

In an alternate reality where Ranma married Shampoo,

their daughter had somehow obtained a magic locket that

allowed her to cross dimensions. A few accidents later,

several of Ranma's 'children' from various realities ended

up in one reality, where Ranma was still a teen-age youth.

One among them, Ryo Saotome (son of Ranma and Ukyou) managed

to get a hold of the locket before Cologne was about to do

something devious with it. Following his victory, Ryo sent

all the children of Ranma &amp; company to their proper

realities, and then prepared to go home himself. Something,

however, went wrong. He ended up in a bizarre version of

Tokyo in 2096 and accidentally dragged along Ratiko Hibiki

and Childra Jansen in his attempt to fix this mistake. That

attempt dragged him to two other realities with amazing

speed. From them, he accidentally brought Miyabi, daughter

of Ranma and Akane, and Ishido, a mysterious amnesiac hunted

by a shadowy organization. Finally, they stopped in a

reality where Ranma &amp; co. were still teens, but had never

met them before.

ACT II:

Childra, curious as to what caused their

dimensional/reality shift, watched Ryo Saotome closely, and

discovered that the locket is the source of their troubles.

She tried, and succeeded, in stealing the locket from him

without his noticing. Ratiko schemed to make sure that the

history of his world took place, and began a plan to kill

Ranma and frame Miyabi for the murder. He succeeded in

getting a blood sample from her and a torn piece of her

clothing, but was interrupted before he could go through

with his plan. In a talk with Ishido, he found out about a

certain umbrella-wielding maniac threatening to kill Ryouga

in Ishido's reality. In a panic, Ratiko rushed to Childra,

and accidentally triggered the locket. The three of them

found themselves on a bridge somewhere. Before they left,

they accidentally dragged along Ryo Muhoshin, a person that

looked amazingly like Hikaru Gosunkugi, but in truth was a

bit more devious. Bringing him along, the four crossed

several realities, narrowly escaping danger, capture, and

death. Then they returned to the Nerima they had left from,

with an irate Ryo Saotome waiting for them. Meanwhile,

Miyabi had put up with the antics of her grandparents (Soun

and Genma) who were overjoyed at her existence, distressed

at the way her parents were fighting, greatly annoyed at her

trans-dimensional half brother Ryo Saotome, and had decided

that a talk with Grandmother Nodoka was in order.

ACT III:

Miyabi went to Nodoka's to talk, unaware that Ranma's

life was in danger due to the promise Genma made to Nodoka

regarding manliness and Ranma's upbringing. The end result

was that Nodoka was invited to dinner, expecting to see her

son, daughter-in-law, and granddaughter. Miyabi's age,

almost that of Ranma, was, unfortunately, not foreseen as a

major problem by Miyabi. Upon returning from her accidental

trip through time, Childra surrendered the locket to Ryo

Saotome once again. Meanwhile, the extra passenger they

picked up, Ryo Muhoshin, passed himself off as 'Ryo

Gosunkugi, son of Gosunkugi and Ukyou' and had everyone

fooled. Nabiki got a hold of the material Ratiko was

planning to frame Miyabi with and used it to blackmail him

into buying her dinner, among other things. They end up at

Ucchan's, where he washed dishes to pay for things. He

eventually got drunk, hit on Ukyou, and was knocked out by a

blow to the head. Childra and Ishido became more...

intimately attached. When his guard was down, Ryo Saotome

was knocked out by Ryo Muhoshin, who then accidentally

triggered the locket and disappeared into times and places

unknown.

Ryo Saotome woke up much later to find the locket gone,

an image of it burned in his hand, and discovered what was

inside the locket:

A picture of him and Bell-chan, his fiancee.

ACT IV:

Ryo Saotome began making plans to assemble the locket

that he was apparently destined to create (the photo from

the locket being proof of that). Meanwhile, Ratiko spent

the day with Nabiki, buying her food and treats while also

beginning to feel somewhat attracted to her. Ishido and

Childra sorted through their fears and anxieties, but in the

end came together in a happy reunion within the local

graveyard. Miyabi &amp; the Tendo household held a dinner for

Nodoka, who was expecting to see her son at last. What

happened instead was that she had an interesting experience

with a time traveler (Happosai) and realized that Miyabi

was, in fact, Ranma's daughter from the future. She also

assumed that 'Ranko' was Genma's daughter from an affair.

Soun briefly assumed Akane was Genma's child from an affair

with his deceased wife. Things got ugly, but got better

again as they usually did (although Nodoka still thinks

Ranko is Genma's illegitimate child). Meanwhile, Under the

distrustful eyes of Childra and Ishido, Ryo Saotome used the

arcane resources within Happosai's room to create the

locket.

ACT V:

Ryo Muhoshin, having borrowed the locket from Ryo

Saotome by means of an umbrella applied to the back of the

head, found himself whisked away to a post-modern,

futuristic world populated by thousands of Kasumis, Ryougas,

and other familiar faces (Ministry of Confusion). After

losing the locket in a fall, he settled in and tried to make

the best of it, striking up a friendship with a Kasumi

extender named Ami. The relationship progressed to the point

of a date, at the end of which Ami was murdered by a berserk

Ryouga extender. Muhoshin killed him in retaliation, and

began a slow but methodical hunt for Ryougas across the

city.

Ryo Saotome, having remade the locket with some help

from three goddesses of time, arrived in this world just as

Muhoshin killed a Ryouga to recover his own locket. The two

fought inconclusively, with Muhoshin escaping.

Leaving 'Ministry of Confusion' in a hurried fashion,

Muhoshin rescued one world's Kasumi from a group of

terrorists intent on beating her to death. A veteran

time-jumper already, she took the name Kaeri to distinguish

herself from the more serene person she had been. The two

stayed together for a few weeks, with Kaeri recovering and

picking up some of Muhoshin's skills. Still obsessed with

the need to protect her family, Kaeri prevailed upon

Muhoshin to take her to Nerima - and off they went.

ACT VI

Nabiki unwisely allowed Ratiko to take the lead in a

brisk walk through Nerima. As a result, she found herself

lost in Africa.

Obeying her wishes, Ryo Muhoshin brought Kaeri to Nerima,

the version of Nerima that just happened to be the resting

place for Ishido, Childra, and the others...

Miyabi hatches a plan to use Nabiki's tape recording

equipment to make a fake conversation between Ranma and

Akane, so as to discourage the other rivals and possibly

nudge the two closer together.

Ratiko, after having just one of those days, hunted for

Ranma. Instead of finding him, he had another one of those

days.

Ryo Saotome chased Ryo Muhoshin across the worlds,

stumbling through across strange realities, and learning

that he has more power over the locket than he knew.

Ryo Muhoshin and Saotome confronted each other once more,

with the end result being dozens of injuries and a destroyed

building. This convinced Ryo Saotome that bringing in

Muhoshin would require a team effort.

Kaeri spied upon the Tendo household, finding out (much

to her distress) about the fate of her family in Ratiko and

Childra's world and causing much confusion among them until

Ryo Saotome, returning from other worlds, runs into her.

She tells him her tale, leaving out her involvement with Ryo

Muhoshin, and asks for his help in putting an end to the

timeline that creates Ratiko and Childra's world.

Ryo said no.

Kaeri hit him when he wasn't looking and took the locket.

Just before she disappeared, Ryo Saotome, Ishido, and

Ratiko jumped into the fading afterglow of the locket and

all disappeared.

ACT VII:

Kaeri traveled through time and realities to prevent the

tragedy that gave birth to the reality of Ranma 2096, and

succeeded in doing so. However, doing so did not change

history as she expected it to, but only split the timeline

into a reality where it did happen and where it didn't.

Shattered by this fact, Kaeri went into a catatonic

state. Ryo Saotome and his party of time trippers arrived

just as she collapsed and brought her back.

With the locket once more in his possession, Ryo Saotome

went with Ishido and Childra to once again stop Ryo

Muhoshin's cross-dimensional murdering spree, leaving Miyabi

to care for Kaeri.

Ratiko, believing Kaeri's intent to eliminate his

timeline made her too dangerous to live, scheemed to kill

her.

After a battle in a mysterious deserted city, Ryo

Muhoshin was defeated, but only after he had an odd

epileptic fit which seemed to be linked to the locket which

was now imbedded in his chest and poisoning his body.

Miyabi walked into Kaeri's room, only to find Ratiko

just about to kill the unconscious girl.

And now...

Converging Series

Act VIII

Converging Series

Act 8

For a moment, there was a deadly silence in Kaeri

Tendo's room.

Ratiko Hibiki stood frozen, holding a pillow, hovering

over Kaeri's head. He gave a very loud audible gulp. Maybe

this assassination wouldn't go too smoothly.

Miyabi Tendo was slowly emitting a large red aura which

looked remarkably like that of her mother, the indomitable

Akane Tendo. "Wh-what do you think you're doing?" she

managed to squeeze through clenched teeth.

Ratiko gave a nervous smile. "Aheh, er, fluffing

pillows! Yeah, that's it!" He began fluffing the pillow a

lot. "See? Fluffing, right, I'm fluffing, don't want her to

get uncomfortable, right?"

Miyabi slowly approached, her demeanor suddenly going

from psychotic to smiling. "Oh re-ally...?"

Ratiko laughed nervously, then covered his mouth. Every

fiber of his being was screaming at him to get out of there,

but...

"Ooooo, Ratiko..." Miyabi cooed, coming up close to him.

"That's sweet of you."

"Aheh. Ah..." Ratiko mumbled, trying to back away from

her slowly. At least until a wall came up behind him. And

all the while, Miyabi was slowly coming up quite close to

him, a seductive smile on her face, fluttering her

eyelashes.

"And what were you doing with Kaeri, Ratty-chan?" Miyabi

murmured, quite close now.

"Well... aheh... y'know... kill her... and..."

She moved her lips next to his ear, her breath tickling

his skin.

Then she yelled.

"RATIKO NO BAKAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

And suddenly, a fist entered his field of vision.

And another.

And another.

Miyabi displayed the speed and skill inherited from her

father in a dazzling array of elbows, knees, punches, and

kicks that battered Ratiko like a tornado in a matter of

seconds.

And then, displaying the might of her mother's side, she

pulled out a giant mallet and sent him on the aerial tour of

Nerima.

-WHAM-

Sighing, Miyabi turned back to Kaeri, sitting down by

her bedside and reaching out to brush back a few loose

strands. Poor Auntie Kasumi...

Her eyes fell across the scar, and for a moment, she

thought back to what Ryo Saotome had said about Kaeri.

Which was practically nothing.

She frowned. Ryo... the big dummy! Why did she have to

listen to him? Just because he thought he knew

everything... he had to order everyone around. And he had

to be so secretive too, like anyone cared about him and his

troubles... Well, she'd show him! She'd show him... and

everyone else that she could be just as good! Just because

she had been spending her time trying to get Mum and Dad

together...

She sobered quickly. No. Didn't want to think about

that.

She missed her family.

And looking down at Kaeri, she began to feel that this

Kasumi who was not Kasumi, felt the same way.

She reached down to squeeze Kaeri's unconscious fingers.

"I guess it's just you and me, right, Auntie...?"

There was no answer.

Flying.

It was a wonderful sensation, thought Ratiko, something

to enjoy.

Normally he enjoyed it when he was in his cursed form,

i.e. female fruit bat. Today, however, there was a

problem. He wasn't a bat, and yet he was airborne.

This kinda feels nice, he thought to himself. Wonder

how I'm gonna land.

Oh.

Uh oh.

*WHAM*

Grey concrete and blue sky swirled around him, along

with a mix of stars. Fortunately for him, Hibikis are

generally sturdy, and even this, the most cowardly scion of

that family, had a fair amount of endurance to him.

Which is why, after landing on his face, he suffered

only a sore neck and a broken nose.

"Ow."

Ratiko stood up slowly, wobbling on his feet. He gently

touched his nose, which reacted by sending a fresh wave of

pain straight to his brain.

"Ow!"

Yes, it was definitely broken. He ripped off his

bandanna and covered his nose with it, but it was too late

to keep his face clean. Streaks of blood had already run

down his face, giving him the appearance of being far more

hurt than he really was.

That appearance didn't get any better when he tripped

and fell flat on his face.

"Ow!"

Which is where the passing ambulance came in.

He'd managed to fall right in front of it as he tripped

and fell. By the time he managed to stand up again, they

finally saw him.

And they hit him.

*WHAM*

It was an accident, really.

"Hey, Taki, we just hit a guy?"

"I think we did, Koji."

"Oh man."

"Quick! Get'em in the ambulance and tranq'em! If we

drug him up enough, he might not rememeber!"

"Good idea!"

Before Ratiko could get up again, he found himself

picked up, dropped on a stretcher, and slid into the back of

the ambulance.

He tried to say something, but the world was still

spinning entirely too much for him to get some proper

sentances arranged for vocalization.

Instead, he just said, "aag."

And then he felt a slight pricking sensation on his arm

and the world went black...

Miyabi was fuming. It'd been a few hours and she was

STILL waiting for Ryo! It would have been so much easier if

she knew what she was waiting for, but...

She turned to look at Kaeri, who was still quiet and

motionless. Sighing, Miyabi sat down at Kaeri's bedside,

tilting her head to watch her silently. Her attention was

drawn to the large pink scar across Kaeri's face.

She shuddered slightly. No one she knew in her universe

ever got hurt, or angry... well, not for long.

She sighed. Bored. No use sulking like this. What

would Mum do? Wait. Fight with Dad. No.

Auntie Nabiki would go earn money, but she didn't think

it was a big deal.

Auntie Kasumi? She'd tell stories.

Stories.

She looked at Kaeri.

The last thing Ratiko remembered was hitting the ground.

Or was that being hit to the ground? He wasn't entirely

sure. The world was a warm and fuzzy place, literally.

Everything was so... not focused, and everything had a weird

echo too.

"Echo echo echo echo whee whee whee whee!"

Something felt odd, not quite right. He felt around

with clumsy fingers and realized that there was something on

his nose. It was hard, and cold, and didn't seem to be

removable.

A part of him wondered if he'd been drugged up. This,

however, was the common sense area, and Ratiko rarely paid

attention to that.

He stood up from the bed (yes, it seemed to be a bed)

and stumbled around until he found himself before a mirror.

Being a Hibiki, that was a fairly impressive accomplishment

done considering it was done under ten minutes.

The mirror seemed blurry.

He tried wiping it down a few times, but that didn't

seem to help.

Then he wiped his eyes a bit, and that made everything

clearer.

"Oh."

He had, it seemed, a cast on his nose.

"Ah..."

And it made him look... sort of...

"Aheheh..."

... sort of funny, actually.

"Ahehehehehehheeh, looka me! Clown! Hehehee!"

Ratiko stumbled and bumbled all around his room, giddy

with laughter but not entirely sure what he was laughing at

any more. It didn't matter. He was feeling groovy, so

everything was groovy.

And with that in mind, he continued to happily groove

about the place, not heeding what or who he ran into.

Hibikis are known for several things. One of them is

the talent to get spectacularly lost. Another is their

above average strength.

Hibikis also were always good at generating spectacular

amounts of ki when under emotional stress.

Finding himself in the hospital, bandaged, and with

various drugs circulating in his system, Ratiko was a time

bomb just waiting to blow.

And it did.

"Auntie, can you hear me?" asked Miyabi softly, kneeling

by Kaeri's side. "Auntie Ka... er.. Auntie Kaeri?"

Miyabi frowned. It would take some time to get used to

that name.

"I... I don't know if you can hear me," continued Miyabi

hesitantly, "but I hope you can. You used to take care of

me a lot when I wasn't feeling well, so I guess this is my

chance to do the same for you."

Miyabi pulled the blanket around Kaeri, making sure she

was tucked in nicely, then gently caressed her forehead with

her hand. It didn't seem to ease Kaeri's pained, haunted

face.

"When I was sick, hurt, or just feeling sad, I remember

you always used to tell me these stories. I really don't

know what's wrong with you, but I hope it'll help."

Miyabi took a small moment to curse Ryo Saotome for not

telling her what was wrong with Kas... Kaeri. Then she

closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and tried to remember

the first tale Kasumi had ever told.

If one could peer into the mind of Kaeri, formerly

Kasumi Tendo, one would see absolute darkness. The horrific

realization that her entire family was damned, no matter

what she did, was devastating beyond words and brought her

mind collapsing down into nothingness.

After all, there was nothing left to hope for.

Somehow, through the void of darkness, she heard

something...

A faint echo of a familiar voice, a comforting presence

in a time of need.

"Ka... Kasumi, can you hear me?"

Mother?

Her long dormant mind slowly stirred, straining to hear

the faint voice, so near yet oh so far away.

Mother, is that you?

She felt the gentle caress of a warm hand across her

brow, and a soothing voice drifting softly along. Through

the haze of her mind, she heard the words that mother once

told her, words of comfort in times of distress.

And somewhere in Kaeri's mind, she remembered...

The last story.

She didn't like hospitals.

They were so solemn, and quiet, and her mother had been

stuck in one for weeks now and she didn't understand why

mother hadn't come home yet.

"Kasumi," said her mother (for she was still Kasumi in

that time), "come hear, dear."

"Mother?" Kasumi found herself at a loss for words, as

the feeling of impending death in the air robbed her of her

voice.

"Kasumi," said her mother, in a voice far too weak and

far too tired, "you remember all the stories I used to tell

you."

"Y-yes, mother."

Mother managed a weak, but still comforting smile as she

took Kasumi's hand in hers. "I know times have been hard on

you lately, dear, and I'm sorry I couldn't be there for you.

There's... one more story, my dear Kasumi, that I must

tell."

Kasumi noddded slowly, and then her mother told the last

story...

"Once upon a time in ancient Japan, when a trip between

cities took days, there was a man and his wife. They lived

in a remote part of Japan, and were blessed with a little

girl who was sweet and good and dutiful.

"One day, the man was called away on business to faraway

Kyoto. Before he went he told his daughter that if she

were good and dutiful to her mother he would bring her back

a present she would prize very highly. He kissed his wife,

and took his leave, as mother and daughter watched him go.

"Weeks passed, and the mother and daughter kept the cottage

clean, and played games and laughed with each other, while

missing the good man very much.

"At last he returned to his home, and after his wife and

child had taken off his large hat and sandals, he sat down

upon the white mats and opened a bamboo basket, watching

the eager gaze of his little child. He took out a

wonderful doll and a lacquer box of cakes and put them into

her outstretched hands. The daughter laughed and cried for

joy, and the good wife smiled at her husband. The man

a wrapped gift, and bade her to be careful with it. The

good wife unwrapped the gift, and exclaimed in surprise.

For in it, there was an object with a human face looking

out at her! Its convex surface shone brightly, while upon

its back, there was a design of pine trees and storks.

"The good man's wife had never seen a mirror before, and on

gazing into it she was under the impression that another

woman looked out upon her as she gazed with growing wonder.

Her husband laughed, and explained what the object was, and

bade her to take great care of the mirror.

"And they were happy for many more years. But all good

things come to and end. One day, the woman became very

ill. Just before she died, she called to her little

daughter, and said, "Dear child, when I am dead, take care

of your father. One day, your father will remarry. I want

you to love your new mother as much as you love me."

""Don't talk like that, mother! You will get better!" the

daughter cried. The mother shook her head. "I must leave

you. But..." and here she drew out a wrapped object, and

bade her daughter to unwrap it.

""Why, that is the mirror Father got when he went to Kyoto

many years ago!" the girl said.

""Yes. I know you will miss me when I have left you. But

take this mirror, and when you feel most lonely, look into

it and you will always see me. I may not talk, but I will

be there for you." And with these words, the mother

sighed, and passed away.

"After mourning the loss of his good wife, in due time the

man married again. His new wife was not kind at all to her

stepdaughter. And often the daughter found herself lonely,

and missing her mother. And then one day, she remembered

her mother's words, and drew out the mirror in the privacy

of her room. And lo, her mother looked out at her from the

mirror's surface. Not the sickly pained face of her dying

days, but the young and beautiful beloved face.

"After that, whenever her stepmother's unkindness grew too

much for her, the daughter would retreat into her room and

gaze into the mirror. And in this manner, she was able to

remain calm and gentle and good-natured, for her mother's

smile and gentle look reassured her.

"One day the girl's stepmother chanced to see her crouching

in a corner over an object she could not quite see,

murmuring to herself. This ignorant woman, who detested

the child and believed that her stepdaughter detested her

in return, was frightened, for she thought that the girl

was performing some strange magical art -perhaps making an

image and sticking pins into it. Full of these notions,

the stepmother went to her husband and told him that his

wicked child was doing her best to kill her by witchcraft.

"When the good man had listened to this incredible tale, he

went straight to his daughter's room. The good man knew

that there was friction between his loving daughter and his

wife, and felt that time would work it out, but he thought

it wise to talk to his loving little girl. He had meant to

be gentle, but when the girl saw him, she slipped an object

into her sleeve. For the first time her doting father grew

angry, and he feared that there was, after all, truth in

what his wife had told him, and he repeated her tale

forthwith.

"When his daughter had heard this unjust accusation she was

amazed at her father's words, and she told him that she

loved him far too well ever to attempt or wish to kill his

wife, who she knew was dear to him. ""What have you hidden

in your sleeve, then?" said her father, only half convinced

and still much puzzled over his daughter's strange

behavior.

"Then the daughter took out the object. "The mirror you

gave my mother, and which she on her deathbed gave to me.

Every time I look into its

shining surface, I see the face of my dear mother, young

and beautiful. When my heart aches-and oh! it has ached

so much lately-I take out the mirror, and mother's face,

with her sweet, kind smile, brings me peace, and helps me

to bear hard words and cross looks."

"And the man did not understand, so his daughter took out

the mirror, and looked at it. And then she looked up at

her father with a simple innocent joyful expression. "Look,

Father! Do you see Mother?"

"And the man looked, and understanding broke out on his

face. "Oh, how wise your mother was! Like two halves of a

melon, you and your mother shared the same face, and thus,

in your innocence, you have grown up to be the loving

person your mother was!" And he hugged his daughter, and

loved her more for her filial piety.

"The girl's stepmother, who had snuck up and listened at the

doorway, suddenly burst in, crying and kowtowing to her

stepdaughter. "I did not know! I did not know! I had

thought that you hated me, and so I, in turn, hated you.

But having heard the tale of you and your mother, I am

ashamed. From this day forth, I will cast out my old

heart, and put in a new one, and love you as my daughter,

and I hope you will love me as you

loved your mother." And she cried.

"And this dutiful daughter, who believed she had seen her

mother's face in the mirror, forgave her stepmother. From

then on, her home was again a happy one, and the family was

never troubled again.

There was a moment of silence as Kasumi held her mother's

hand like a lifeline. She never wanted to let go, never,

not ever, it wasn't fair...

"Kasumi," said her mother gently, "do you understand what

I'm trying to say?"

"Y-yes, mother, I do."

Miyabi paused in her storytelling as she saw, at last,

the first sign of life from her comatose aunt.

A single tear.

Miyabi clasped her aunt's hand tightly. "Auntie

Kasumi...?"

A voice answered. "No. Not Kasumi...

"Kaeri."

"Hello?"

Ratiko Hibiki wasn't quite sure what was going on. The

last thing he remembered clearly was falling down on the

road. The details were murky, but there was definitely a

road and he'd definitely hit it face first.

From that point, his memories were murky to the point of

being unreliable. Something about clown noses and flames,

but that didn't seem right.

As to where he was now... it was a bed, in very cramp

quarters, surrounded by lots of medical equipment. It

seemed to be... an ambulance?

Slowly, he stood up, and immediately noticed something

was wrong. There was something on his nose and one of his

arms was wrapped in bandages.

What, he wondered, just happened.

With that in mind, he opened the door.

And then he quickly closed it again as the wail of

sirens and the sight of a hospital ablaze greeted him.

Oh, so that's what happened.

"Oh boy."

And then, without warning, the ambulance roared to life,

sirens wailing, and sped away.

"H-hey! Waitaminute!"

Ratiko made his way to the front of the ambulance, where

two very stressed medics sat.

"Um, hello?" he asked nervously.

Both of the medics groaned.

"I knew we forgot something," said one of them.

"Sorry about this sir," said the other to Ratiko. "But

we've got an emergency call to get to and we can't turn back

now. Just... ah... sit back and relax. I think we've got

a few magazines there for you to kill time with."

Ratiko blinked. "Oh. Um, okay."

Kaeri slowly sat up, looking up, a dull, impassive

expression on her face. She slowly tilted her head to look

at an anxious Miyabi.

"... Auntie Kaeri?"

There was no response.

"Auntie Kaeri? ... Are you okay?"

A pause for thought, then Kaeri slowly shook her head,

remaining sullen.

Miyabi sat down nervously next to Kaeri. She reached

out to touch her aunt's hand.

Kaeri flinched, backing away. Miyabi let go quickly,

then looked down. "I'm sorry, Auntie." And she stood up

quickly, leaving the room.

Outside the room, Miyabi sighed. Great. Just

greaaaaaaaat. Ryo Saotome was going to pay for this. But

until she came back...

"Auntie, are you hungry?"

Kaeri shook her head.

Miyabi frowned. "You haven't had anything since you

came here. Are you sure?"

With that eerily blank look on still haunting her face,

Kaeri nodded.

With a sigh, Miyabi walked quietly out the door, closing

it slowly on her way out. A moment later, she peeked back

into the room. "Tell ya what, I'll just bring you a little

something... just in case, you know?"

Kaeri didn't respond.

"Right. Back in a while."

Entering the kitchen, Miyabi was greeted with awkward

silence. Kasumi was there, chopping vegetables and watching

over boiling pots as she prepared the next meal. However,

she just didn't seem... herself.

"Auntie Kasumi? Are you okay?"

Kasumi twitched, as if startled, then turned to Miyabi

with a warm smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. "I'm

fine, Miyabi-chan. You?"

"Um, okay, I guess."

"And how is..." Kasumi's expression wavered for a

moment. "How is... our guest."

"She's... okay, I guess. I'm gonna bring some food to

her, I don't think she's eaten anything at all yet."

Kasumi nodded. "That's... nice."

And then the eldest Tendo resumed chopping vegetables.

Chop chop chop chop.

Miyabi looked at Kasumi with concern. She couldn't

imagine how her auntie felt, seeing a deranged, scarred

version of herself. Whatever she was feeling, Miyabi hoped

she could handle it, becuase she'd be busy enough with

Kaeri.

Humming to herself, Miyabi gathered some fruit, chips,

and other miscellaneous snacks, along with a canned drink,

placed them all neatly on a tray, and carried it out.

And then her grandfather walked by.

"Ah, Miyabi-chan, how thoughtful of you."

With speed born of being a horrible glutton, Genma

reached for the food on the tray. With speed born of eating

countless meals with Genma and Ranma, Miyabi pulled the tray

out from his reach.

"Grandfather, no! This is for Auntie Kaeri."

"Who?"

"The other Kasumi, the one that... you know..."

Genma's expression turned very solemn. "Oh, I see.

Very good, granddaughter, tending to the weak is a martial

artist's duty. Go on, dear."

"Thanks, Grampa."

As Miyabi walked away, Genma shook his head. The worlds

were mysterious places indeed. What kind of world would

produce such a shatttered version of their dear Kasumi?

Ah, well, the mysteries of life.

He watched his granddaughter depart upstairs, then went

over to the old reliable shogi board to kill some time with

Soun.

"Ready to face defeat again, Tend... o?"

Soun Tendo, in full glistening and sharp samurai armor

was not what he was expecting.

"Hello, Saotome." The metal scraped and whined as Soun

took a sat at the Shogi board. "Shall we?"

"Ah... sure."

"Last time I went first, I believe. So you're up

today."

Genma nodded. He moved a piece.

Soun studied the move carefully. Then he

*SCREECH*GROAN*SQUEEK*SCREECH* moved a piece.

Genma took five seconds to recover, then another minute

to contemplate his next step. And then he moved another

piece.

Soun nodded approvingly, as if seeing wisdom in Genma's

strategy. He then took a full minute to contemplate the

next step, then he *TREENK*SCRUONKK*TREEENK*SCRRRK* moved

another piece.

Genma blinked and shook his head, trying to stop the

world from reverberating. "Tendo, my friend, may I ask a

question?"

"What is it, Saotome?"

"Why do you have that armor on?"

"Saotome... that girl... that other Kasumi... before

tonight I had thought it impossible that such harm could

befall my first child. Now I know the world is in fact a

far more dangerous place, and so long as Kasumi is under my

roof I shall _never_ allow her to suffer such a fate."

Genma nodded approvingly. "Very noble, Tendo."

Akane walked into the room at this time, looking

puzzled. "Daddy? Mr. Saotome? Did you hear that noise?"

Soun turned *SCREEECH*SCROONK*WHRRR*SCREEK* to face her

youngest daughter. "What noise, Akane?"

After her ears finally stabalized, Akane sighed. "Ah...

never mind." She turned to walk away, muttering something

about crazy parents, then paused. "Say, have any of you

seen Nabiki?"

Genma shook his head. "Not I."

"Probably out with her friends," said Soun. "You know

how she is."

Meanwhile, in Ethiopia...

Nabiki sighed in relief, watching the ground zoom by and

below her. She was currently passenger in a VTOL combat jet

she'd come into possession of after a long and complicated

series of transactions that made even her head spin.

At long last, back to Japan.

It was a real experience, these past few days, but she'd

survived. Oh yes, through thick and thin, through endless

negociations, corrupt government officials, corrupt rebels,

and noisy tourists, she'd survived and come out on top.

And in a matter of hours... she'd return home

triumphant.

*BOOM*

Or not.

("What was that?!") she yelled to the pilot.

("Rebel gunfire, Miss Tendo. They took out one of our

engines!")

And as her newly acquired VTOL plane spiraled back down

to earth, Nabiki cursed and cursed and cursed and cursed...

And, again, she swore vengence on Ratiko Hibiki.

Night and day came and went, and for the second day in a

row, Ryo Saotome had not come back. Miyabi felt a bit of

worry but a large amount of irritation. Kasu- Kaeri needed

to be someplace more peaceful, where she'd belong, and not

this place. Kaeri didn't belong there, and neither did

Miyabi. Until then, the future Saotome tried to make life

as comfortable as possible for them both.

"Good morning!"

Miyabi carried the tray laden with breakfast items to

Kaeri's side. The former Kasumi acknowledged Miyabi with a

glance, but nothing more.

"Feeling any better?" asked Miyabi softly.

Kaeri shook her head, negative.

"Don't you want any breakfast?"

Again, Kaeri shook her head.

"Won't you at least give it a try? I made it myself,

y'know." She gave Kaeri a ressuring smile.

No response.

"Just a little? For me? Please?"

No response, again. Kaeri merely looked blankly at the

wall.

With a sigh, Miyabi took a seat on the floor, opposite

of Kaeri, and rested her hand in her head. What to do to

get her to talk?

Hrm.

"Tell you what," said Miyabi. "I'll tell you all about

me, then you tell me all about you, okay? That only seems

fair, ne?"

The underwhelming response was not inspiring.

"I'll... take that as a yes." Miyabi shifted for a

moment, settling down to tell her tale. With a deep breath,

she began.

Or, she was about to, when she realized she'd forgotten

something very basic.

"Oh, I never introduced myself!" she said with much

embarrassment. "I'm Miyabi Saotome, sorry I didn't say so

earlier, but I guess I was just kinda caught up in things."

Kaeri's gaze shifted towards her, until she was looking

directly into Miyabi's. The girl found the dead stare a bit

unnerving, but pressed on and told her tale...

"Ranma and Akane, they're my parents. I'm told I have a

lot of them in me. I dunno. Grownups say that a lot about

kids." Miyabi shrugged.

"I was born, um, will be born, in a few years. I'm the

first baby they had. My little brother was born a few years

later, but that's another story."

"They say I was born kicking and screaming, and haven't

stopped since." Miyabi thought about how that sounded, then

laughed. "No, I'm not bad like that, I guess I'm just a

little stubborn sometimes."

Her frace brightened, a proud grin making its way to her

lips. "And I'm good at martial arts."

"I'm the heir to the Tendo Dojo, and proud of it.

Father says I'm every bit as good as he was, and I've heard

how good he was so hearing that from him means a lot to me."

Miyabi glanced quickly, checking on Kaeri's expression. Was

that a faint smile she saw flickering? Maybe this was

working.

She thought of what to say next, then had a profound

insight on her life situation.

"I just realized. If I'm the heir, they're probably

gonna try to engage me to someone. I just hope mother and

father don't make the same mistakes grandfather made." She

frowned and bit a nail. "Say, waitasec, they don't

necessarily need ME to have children to get an heir. They

could always engage Masao to Saeko! Yeah, that's a plan!"

She grinned proudly, feeling good about her plan.

"Oh, that's right, you don't know them. Masao is my

brother, and Saeko is Uncle Ryouga and Auntie Ukyou's

daughter. Saeko's okay, but Masao's a brat."

"You used to babysit us a lot, I remember. You always

told me I was such a tomboy, just like mum was when she was

a kid. Seeing her now, I still don't know what they're

talking about. Do you?" She looked at Kaeri curiously.

No response. However, she was either imagining things

or Kaeri actually looked like she was listening.

"Well, we..." Miyabi hesitated, then frowned.

"I'm rambling, aren't I."

Kaeri blinked. It was better than nothing.

"Well... hold on... lemme think of something." Miyabi

hummed for a bit, eyes rolled upward, deep in thought.

"Ah, I know! I remember when you taught me to cook."

That seemed like a good place to start. She remembered it

well, and it involved auntie Kae... Kasu... her.

"Well, you didn't start teaching me until mum and dad

asked you to. I guess it was because of the way I started

cooking..."

It was six in the morning and Miyabi was hungry.

Mommy and daddy... were still asleep.

Granpa Soun was... still asleep.

Granpa Panda was... still asleep.

Miyabi was very hungry.

Being the independent sort, much like her mother, Miyabi

decided that making her own breakfast should be just fine.

Obviously, the really neat stuff was too hard for her.

But that instant ramen... now that looked easy.

Hot water, noodles, mix. Right.

Now how did mum heat water?

"Dear, what's that sound?"

Ranma yawned and groaned. "Nnng, more sleep."

"Will you go check?"

"Right, okay, hold on..."

And so Ranma Saotome, Martial Artist, trudged down

half-asleep through his abode. He may have been

half-asleep, but he was still an alert martial artist. The

sound of metal clanging on metal could be heard from the

kitchen.

A burglar?

He carefully made his way to the kitchen, silently,

slowly...

"Hi daddy!"

"Miyabi-chan?" Ranma looked around the kitchen,

puzzled. "What's going on?"

"Cookin' breakfast!"

Oh, thought Ranma, that would explain the bits of dry

ramen splattered on the floor, along with the bowl full of

smashed up ramen bits.

"Instant ramen, Miyabi-chan?"

"Mm-hm!" said the girl, nodding enthusiastically.

The sound of the microwave humming along got Ranma's

attention. He looked inside, where a cup of water was

already steaming. Ranma looked at the heating time.

999 minutes, 32 seconds.

Oh boy.

Ranma chuckled. "Heh, just like your mom."

"And what do you mean by that?" asked Akane's voice.

"Er... nothing, love."

Kaeri blinked, again, but otherwise didn't react much.

Miyabi didn't notice, too wrapped up in her own tale.

"After that, they kinda told the whole family. Everyone

laughed about it, which made me kinda confused. But you...

you took me seriously."

With Ranma and Akane gone on yet another adventure,

Miyabi found herself in Auntie Kasumi's care once more. The

little girl didn't mind much, since Auntie Kasumi was nice.

"Miyabi-chan, I heard you were trying to learn how to

cook?"

Miyabi nodded. "But daddy won't let me unless him'n mum

is watching."

Kasumi smiled and ruffled the girl's hair. "That's

good, Miyabi-chan. You know, I learned how to cook at your

age."

That seemed to get Miyabi's attention. "You did?"

Kasumi smiled wistfully. "Mm-hm. I tried on my own,

just like you, but I accidentally started a fire."

Miyabi gasped. "Did the house burn down?"

The eldest Tendo daughter laughed. "Oh, no, everything

was okay. But after that, mother taught me how to cook."

"Oooh."

Kasumi appeared contemplative for a moment, then knelt

down to be at eye level with Miyabi. "Miyabi-chan, do you

want me to help you learn how to cook?"

The little girl's eyes widened. "You would?"

"I'd love to."

"Yaaaay!"

"Now, you'll have to promise to do exactly what I say."

"Haiii!"

"Now, the first thing mother taught me is how to boil

water."

"Water? How'bout okonomiyaki?"

"First things first, Miyabi-chan. You have to learn the

basics before you try bigger things."

"Okaaaay."

"I'm still not as good as you," said Miyabi. "Don't

know if I ever will be, but I'm told that I'm a better cook

than mom was when she was my age."

She stretched and yawned, feeling the effects of sitting

in one position for too long.

"I'm gonna go take a quick jog around the neighborhood,

okay? I'll be back later."

Kaeri blinked, which wasn't much more than she'd been

doing before. With a sigh, Miyabi rose and went to the

door.

She paused, however, when she heard the faintest of

sounds, a few softly spoken words from the silent Kaeri.

"Come back."

Miyabi stared at Kaeri in surprise, though Kaeri was

still staring at the wall across from her. Well, she wasn't

normal, but progress was progress. As her father once told

her, one step at a time.

"Don't worry, auntie. I will. I promise."

As promised, Miyabi had returned later that day and told

more stories of her eventful youth. She spoke of birthdays

and picnics, rivalries and friendships, a youth spent

amongst some of the most formidable martial artists in the

world.

And as she spun her tales, Kaeri listened. Silently, as

she listened to the girl, her eyes became just a little less

haunted, her gaze a little less blank, and a little more

human.

However, Kaeri still remained mostly silent, except for

the occasional "no", "yes", "bye", and other monosylable

words.

There was one exception.

"Come back."

Two words spoken with a certain sadness and need,

whenever it appeared Miyabi would leave the room. The girl

would always assure her that she'd return, and when she did

she thought she sensed relief from the scarred and shattered

woman that was once Kasumi Tendo.

Three days passed in this manner, and Miyabi found them

to be more pleasant than any time spent with her parents and

grandparents so far. From Kaeri, there was no nagging, no

arguing, no denial. She listened, and maybe, though Miyabi

admitted it might have been wishful thinking on her part,

maybe she cared.

However, it wasn't until the fourth day that there was a

change.

"So the first time I tried making sauce for the egg fu

yung, I thought it'd be easy," said Miyabi. "I mean, gravy

is just water, seasonings, and flour, right?"

"Corn starch," mumbled Kaeri.

"Yeah, I-"

"Corn starch, beef stock, salt," continued Kaeri.

Miyabi stared at Kaeri, surprised. This was more words

than she'd ever said before in a row. She watched Kaeri

intently, waiting to see if she would open up further.

She didn't disappoint.

"Use a sauce pan, medium heat. Stir and mix, be sure

not to leave any lumps, until thick and bubbly."

"Auntie... you're talking."

Kaeri nodded. "Good cooking," she said in a hoarse

voice, "is important."

It was, admittedly, a bit of a letdown.

But at least she was talking.

"Go on," said Kaeri.

"Huh?"

"Your story."

"Oh!" Miyabi laughed nervously and scratched the back of

her head. "Well, anyway, I mixed beef stock, flour, and

water, then put it in the microwave. A minute later, I got

a muffin."

"A muffin?" asked Kaeri.

"Yeah, it was neat! Firm on the outside with a gooey,

salty middle. Daddy called it a 'Chinese muffin'."

Kaeri smiled.

"What... happened?"

"Why you..." Miyabi searched for the words, not entirely

sure how to put the question. "Why... who... who hurt you?"

Kaeri looked away, closing her eyes. Miyabi could feel

her hand trembling, and held it more firmly.

"It's okay, you don't have to-"

"Knives," Kaeri whispered. "They used knives. And

needles."

Her fingers, those that remained, clamped tightly around

Miyabi's hand.

"Auntie..."

"They killed them. All of them. Akane, Nabiki, Ranma,

Daddy, all of them dead, but they DIDN'T KILL ME!" Kaeri's

voice went from whisper to shriek in an instant, and Miyabi

shrank away from the fires that suddenly danced behind her

eyes.

"Killed them! Left me all alone... all alone.." The

shriek faded into choking half-sobs, and Miyabi began to

open her mouth, a comforting phrase floating up through her

horrified mind.

"But I wouldn't let them, no, I wouldn't! The mirror! I

took the mirror, and I went back, and I found them, and I

took the bomb, the bomb that killed them, and I found the

monsters and they... they hurt... it doesn't matter, I don't

matter, the Work is everything... but they hurt me..."

"Auntie... Auntie, please, it's okay..."

"And there's more Akanes and Nabikis and they die and I

can't save them all," Kaeri mumbled, a hurt, confused look

moving over her scarred face. "They can't die. They're all

I've ever had. It's all my fault. My fault..."

Dropping her face into her maimed hands, she wept.

Miyabi tightly hugged her, tears running down her own

cheeks. Now, at least, she knew what had happened.

She remembered her own tears at seeing this alternate

version of her parents constantly fighting. How much worse,

then, must it have been for Kaeri? Her real family killed,

alternate families apparently dead as well... physical

torture, emotional torture, survivor's guilt, and the loss

of everything she had built her life around...

The only wonder, Miyabi thought sadly, was that she was

as relatively sane as she was.

"Sssh. Ssssh. It's okay..."

"All gone... all dead..."

"Let me tell you about my world again. Mum and Dad were

so pleased when the Hibikis had their first child..."

"Burned to ashes..."

"...there was a big celebration..."

"Dead. All dead..."

Half an hour later, Miyabi emerged, her legs a little

unsteady. Kaeri was asleep... or dozing, or just more

unresponsive than usual. It was hard to tell, sometimes.

Stories of her world seemed to help. Apparantly she must

have grown up in a virtual paradise by the standards of the

universes Kaeri had seen, as if some kindly power had

watched over Miyabi and her extended family, giving them

happiness.

The scarred Tendo has rambled on for a good fifteen

minutes, sometimes about knives and needles and stoves, and

sometimes about surreal-sounding lands, but mostly the same

mournful lament that 'they' were all dead.

It did give Miyabi a bit of a queasy feeling.

Intellectually she supposed that there were worlds where her

parents died, or she died... but there was a big difference

between mental supposition and actually seeing it happen. A

very big difference.

Possibily the difference between madness and sanity.

Even with someone like Kaeri, there were only so many

times one could go over the same family gossip and recipes.

The scarred woman had a blissful expression on her face; she

looked like she could go on hearing about mum and dad all

day long, but Miyabi felt that SHE'D be the one lying on a

couch soon if she didn't change the subject. So she did.

"...and after that we had to bathe my brother in alcohol

to clean it all off. Auntie Kaeri..." A muffled 'hrmph?'

came from the woman. Not quite a 'Yes?', but it was a

response. "Have I ever told you about how I got here?"

Kaeri shook her head ever so slightly, bit her lip

and stuck her right hand in the crack between the seat and

back cushions.

Miyabi decided to risk it, and began to narrate the

adventures of Ryo Saotome and the Locketeers - the G-rated

version. She could tell when her story was getting too

troublesome for her audience, because her eyebrows would

knot themselves up and she'd reach deeper into the sofa

crack. Whenever that happened, she'd backtrack a bit, skip

over events, or patch up the narrative with attractive

little white lies. "...and then Rat poked me with a nee...

with his finger, to check for bruises. Hey, wait! Where

are you going?"

"It's a lovely... Miyabi..." Kaeri stood up slowly and

carefully, using the sofa's armrests as supports. "I'll

just be a minute. I need to..." She pointed at the washroom.

"Need help?"

Kaeri shook her head.

Miyabi sat on the edge of the sofa and watched her as

she walked. She stumbled a few times, but never actually

fell. The washroom door opened, then shut with a click.

Miyabi looked at the sofa. Auntie'd lain there so long

that there was a slight Kaeri-shaped depression on the

cushions, and a distortion where she'd stuck her hand

between the cushions. What'd she been doing that for,

anyway? She reached in.

Was that a broomstick? That made sense. For Auntie, a

mop would be as good as a security blanket. But it was so

cold and hard, and it must be carved... She grabbed the rod

and yanked it out.

Nope. Definitely not a broomstick. Nuh-uh.

A flush from the washroom.

Miyabi didn't know what it was that she was holding, but

she guessed that anything with that kind of symbol on it

couldn't be entirely harmless. On an impulse, she stuck it

in the broom closet. Kaeri stepped out of the bathroom only

moments after she'd closed the door.

"Um... All done?"

A small nod. Her mouth was a straight line, neither

happy nor sad.

"Yeah, so... I was telling you about Rat and his bl...

his bruise test, wasn't I?" Kaeri laid herself back on the

sofa and closed her eyes. As Miyabi went on with her story,

her cheekbones rose slightly, and one could almost say she

smiled.

"...and then that PERVERT of a half-brother of mine

jumps in,

shouting-"

"It's GONE!"

"Yeah, but... how did you- Auntie?"

"It's... it's GONE!" Kaeri's voice and body were

shaking. She'd stood up and was running her hand along the

entire length of the sofa crack.

"What's gone?" asked Miyabi. Maybe now she'd be able to

figure out why Auntie carried something that nasty-looking

around.

"It's my... my..." Her adam's apple rose and fell. She

stopped shaking. It wasn't gradual; it was an abrupt stop.

She was repressing it. "It's nothing," she said. "Go on

with your story." Miyabi spoke, but her audience was no

longer listening.

The sirens of the ambulance blared as it sped through

the night. In the back of it, a very bored Reiraku Hibiki

thumbed through a dog-eared copy of Shonen Sunday while

wedged between a stretcher and a machine that went ping, and

wondered, somewhere in the drugged and microchip-affected

recesses of his brain, just how long it was supposed to take

to get to an emergency call.

At least he had plenty of entertainment for the trip.

Reiraku thanked his medical training and injected another

dose of morphine into his IV. It made the manga a lot more

interesting.

Up front, Taki and Koji tried to contact the hospital by

radio to find out the address of the emergency they were

supposed to be attending to. As said hospital was last seen

busily burning to the ground, there was little success.

"I thought YOU remembered the address!" Taki shouted.

"I thought YOU did!" Koji replied.

"Oh, sure, blame ME for it. YOU'RE the one who got us

into the middle of that desert!"

"At least the pyramids were nice. And don't tell me you

didn't like the camel."

Taki considered this, and nodded.

"The camel was cute. But... since when are there

pyramids in Tokyo?"

"I dunno. Since when is there a rainforest, small brown

guys with blowguns and colonies full of fat people wearing

fur hats?"

"Good point." A pause. "Taki?"

"Yes?"

"Do ya... Do ya think our patient's still alive?"

"How long's it been?"

"Dunno. My watch got fried right about when we passed

that flag stuck in the snow."

"Mine too." A pause. "Koji?"

"Yes?"

"Do ya... Do ya think WE'RE still alive?"

"Whaddya mean?"

"Well... all the different people, an' places an' stuff.

We could be on the highway to the heavens, you know. Died,

and are going through the places where all the other dead

folk live while searching for our own... our own..."

Koji scratched his chin.

"Could be... could be... Hey, look! There's a dead man

now!"

Later, both would claim the other was driving when they

hit the boy with the umbrella. In truth, it was not so much

they hit him as he hit them.

Ryouga simply wasn't paying attention. All his thoughts

for the last while had been about great-grandsons from the

future, getting married to Ukyou, and a whole

bushel-and-a-peck of other topics too diverse to enter into

at this point.

So when he looked up in the middle of the formerly-empty

intersection in a dilapidated section of the harbour

district filled with empty warehouses, and saw the

ambulance, sirens blazing, bearing down on him, he did what

came naturally.

He hit it. With his umbrella. The front of the vehicle

crumpled into a variety of interesting shapes around the

invincible red-bamboo frame. Ryouga held his arm rigid,

thinking he could stop the ambulance as if it were simply a

charging wild boar. As it turned out, however, it didn't

end up stopping until reached out and put his other hand on

the bumper. He had to dig his feet in too.

Taki and Koji looked out at the lost boy, who was

dressed very much like the one in the back of the ambulance.

Their attention was somewhat distracted by the jagged pieces

of metal which had entered the cab (miraculously missing any

vital or non-vital parts of their body) when Ryouga had hit

the ambulance.

"Uhh," said Koji.

"Mm," said Taki.

The siren gave a last piercing wail, and died out.

Ryouga came over and knocked on the driver's-side window

with his umbrella. Koji (or Taki - it was never made really

clear who had been driving) rolled it down.

"Watch," Ryouga said. "Where you are going, please."

He casually tossed the front bumper of the ambulance to the

road and walked away.

Koji looked to Taki.

"Coffee break?"

"Coffee break."

Considering they were going to lose their jobs, and

weren't entirely sure that they were alive to go back to

them should they miraculously keep them, it wasn't too big a

deal to them at that point. The pair absconded from the

ruined ambulance and walked off in search of someplace

entirely absent from people capable of stopping speeding

ambulances using umbrellas and their bare hands.

"Looks like we bumped into the soldiers' section. Let's

go try to find the furry bunny heaven."

"Or the Playboy bunny heaven."

"Good thinking, Koji."

In the back of the ambulance, Rat yanked out the IV feed

and worked to untangle himself from the defibrillator pads

(managing to receive only five large jolts of electricity in

the process) that he'd gotten worked into when Ryouga had

stopped the ambulance. With a hard shove, he pushed open

the doors and staggered out onto the street to see a

familiar figure with bandanna and umbrella heading away

around the corner.

"Hey! Great-granddad! Wait up!"

Ryouga turned and looked at Rat, his umbrella resting

lightly on one shoulder. "Oh. Hiya, Ratiko. How's it

going?"

"Not good," Ratiko said. For some reason, he giggled.

"The plan, the plan." He shook his finger at Ryouga. "The

plan, you see, is not unfolding quite as well as was hoped."

Another manic titter escaped him. "You see, you see...

there are _powerful forces_ conspiring against me!" Ryouga

blinked as his future descendant grabbed him by the

shoulders in a death-grip. "They want to see me wiped from

the face of the earth, great-grandfather!"

A pat on the back did little to calm Ratiko down.

"Umm... who?" Ryouga asked after a hesitant moment.

"_They_!" Ratiko snarled. "They're all against me!

Every one of them!"

"Err..." Ryouga searched for something

great-grandfatherly to say. He fixed upon the splint and

bandage upon Rat's nose. "Who did that to you?"

Ratiko went from manic to depressive in an eyeblink.

"One of _them_," he said glumly.

"Err... who?"

"Miyabi," he muttered. "Ranma's little spawn."

"Is it not enough that you torment my kin and I,

Saotome?" Ryouga said mournfully. "Must your descendants do

the same?"

"There's only one thing to do, of course," Ratiko said,

rubbing his hands together gleefully. "Get them first. Get

'em all. Every single one! Ranma first!"

"Uhh..." Ryouga felt distinctly uncomfortable suddenly.

Talk and action were two different things. And Ratiko

sounded frighteningly serious. The lost boy might himself

have shouted 'Ranma, prepare to die' any number of times,

but he'd never actually carried through. "Why Ranma? I

mean, well... he has admittedly made your life a living

hell, just like mine, and, uhh..."

"Oh, it's not that." Ratiko let out another giggle.

"Then what?"

It is probably good to note for readers at this moment

that Rat is suffering from:

a) A slight concussion (from being run over by an

ambulance after falling facefirst into concrete from a

great height)

b) The lingering effects of enough morphine to kill a

horse

c) The brain-twiddlings of the Onocorp O.P.I.M. chip in

his head

d) Impromptu electroshock therapy from the defibrillator

pads

e) A mild case of genetically inherited stupidity

Let us now step back into the action as if we had never

left it:

"Well," Ratiko explained with all the clinical

detachment of a doctor describing how the progress of a

patient's terminal cancer had reached their brain and would

soon be causing them to be reduced to a pathetic drooling

heap of humanity. "Ranma has to die, you see. When Ranma

dies, Akane will commit suicide after murdering Happosai.

After that, you and Ukyou will get married. Ukyou will get

consigned to a mental institution, and you'll end up

sleeping with Nabiki. Then Nabiki will accidentally kill

Kasumi while blowing up the Tendo house. Then she'll kill

herself too." He scratched his head. "And, uhh... no,

wait. Kasumi doesn't die right away. Her daughter kills

her by lethal injection as she lies like a vegetable in a

hospital bed. And Doctor Tofu goes insane, I think."

Ryouga stared.

"So you see," Ratiko concluded. "Ranma's got to die so

everyone else will either die, go insane, or suffer

horribly. Except Kuno, I guess; he kinda gets to rule the

world. Wanna help out?"

"Akane... dead?" Ryouga murmured.

"Yeah," Ratiko said, and beamed as only someone

completely and utterly unaware of the true gravity of a

situation can. "And it's all so _I_ can come into existence.

Ain't it great?"

Ryouga thought for a split second, and then quite calmly

and efficiently broke Ratiko's nose again.

Miyabi moved the staff into her room the moment she had

a chance, and since then, Kaeri had seemed more at peace.

There was less trembling, less shifting of eyes... She'd

tried to go look for it once or twice, but Miyabi had

managed to stop that. Now she just lay back and listened to

her gossip and asked and bothered and-

"Miyabi-chan, come back! You haven't finished your

story!"

"I've told it to you a HUNDRED TIMES! Geeze! They're

just my PARENTS; it's not like they're... they're some movie

stars or something."

"But you told me..."

"Look; I have a headache, my legs are cramped and I'm

sick of spending all my days telling my life story to you

hopin' that MAYBE, just MAYBE you'll actually get up and DO

something." Was she crying? Cripes, talk about frail...

"Stop that! I'm just going out for a WALK, okay? Why don't

you just.. go talk to yourself, or something? She's in the

kitchen."

"But... the stairs... I thought you were..."

"I'm goin' out the window. Hey, I'm my father's

daughter, right?"

If Kaeri answered, Miyabi didn't hear it.

Night.

The Tendo household was wrapped in darkness as it came,

eventually surrendering to the darkness one room at a time

as the people of the household went to sleep.

Not all of them rested.

In the darkness, Kaeri slowly crept through the house.

Sometimes she would stumble, but always she would remain

silent. Through empty halls she crept, her footfalls soft

against the wooden floors, down the stairs, to the dining

room.

After peeking into the room to make sure it was empty,

she entered the room crawling on hands and knees. She

looked under the television, under the furniture, underneath

anything that could be moved.

And then she moved to the kitchen and did it again,

searching through cabinets, shelves and cupboards.

After a few minutes of this, she sighed and moved on to

the tea room, relentlessly searching through there in the

same obsessive and driven manner. After every room, her

eyes grew wilder, more desperate, her movement less subtle,

more noisy.

It had to be here, she whispered to herself.

It simply had to.

She entered the dojo, though this time she entered

caring not about stealth at all. Kaeri tossed aside

training equipment carelessly in her search, her hands

beginning to shake. She bit back a scream of frustration

after more minutes of searching bore no fruit.

Kaeri ran outside, dropping to her knees and crawling in

the dirt, not caring that her clothes became filthy in the

process. Her hands sifted through dirt and grass, seeking

relentlessly.

Ten minutes later, she emerged from underneath the dojo,

a wild and desperate look in her eyes. She wandered to the

middle of the courtyard, trembling, then saw the pond.

She ran to the pond, kneeling at its edge. She reached

in with both hands, first searching slowly, then

frantically, splashing the waters to a froth. A moment

later, she entered the pond entirely and dove underneath,

groping blindly in the dark waters.

She rose for air, gasping, then dove down and searched

again.

WHERE IS IT her mind screamed.

She crawled out of the pond, dripping wet and trembling

badly now, and stared at the cloudy skies above, wet,

smeared with dirt, trembling.

Where could it have gone?

The ships of many nations dock at the harbours of Tokyo.

Great tankers, massive transport ships, importers of illegal

arms. Their crews drink in the bars near the harbour, and

occasionally fight with each other. Sometimes, they even go

to sleep, in the cabins and quarters of the great ships. The

ships bob slowly at the docks, rocked by the subtle motions

of the waves. The crews slumber, soothed by the rhythms of

the sea, dreaming dreams of far-off homelands, perhaps of

families left behind. When the sun rises, some of them will

leave the shelter of the harbour and sail out across the

ocean to other ports. The lives of seamen are short and

fast-paced. They spend their entire existence running with

the tide, trying to get up a nest egg. Most of them will

die unfulfilled.

Thus, the seamen need their rest.

"Ach! Verdammtes Scheiss! Wir schlafen hier, Arschloch!"

They're not getting it tonight.

"Callense! Quedos, bobos! Estou tentando dormir!

Schweigen-sie!"

As they watch sleepily from the decks of their ships, a

dockside warehouse (it is probably an unecessary detail to

tell the reader that it was used to store insulin for

distribution to needy diabetics, but we'll do it anyway)

goes up in an cacophonous explosion of yellow light.

"Quien hace ese maldito ruido?! Les voy a sacar la

mugre!"

Faintly, over the sounds of things blowing up, someone

can be heard screaming.

"Cor! Shut the bloody 'ell up, you lot!"

Screaming in mortal terror.

"Silence! Vous etes ein par de betes!"

There is another voice too. It is screaming in rage.

What it is screaming is this:

"RATIKO HIBIKI, PREPARE TO DIE!"

Miyabi lay flat against the floor, frantically running

her arm under her sleeping mat.

"It's GON..." She stopped herself before she brought the

whole house to the door with her shouting. Where WAS it?

Could Kaeri have stolen it from her? Maybe Ryo'd popped in

and...

Her fingers touched the cold carvings on the staff, and

she sighed with relief. Miyabi gently slid it from under

the mat. She could have LIFTED her bed, but the staff liked

the dark, and it wouldn't be nice to bring in all that light

all of a sudden, without warning it or anything...

Geeze. Now she was pampering broomsticks.

She used the staff to prop herself up and admired the

figures carved on it. At first she'd thought they might be

stylised animals or people, but now... Now when she squinted

at them, they almost seemed like words. Like stories. Or

maybe laws. Every time she thought she understood them, her

mind would move to something else...

Miyabi ran her hand along the staff's length. She had a

vague feeling that if she only fingered the symbols for long

enough, the meanings would come to her head, like blind

people and Braille. All that it gave her was a rush. But

that was enough.

She smiled.

"Sorry for takin' you out like this. I just had to

check on you, you know? Well... Now I'll put you back. I

have to go for a walk." Miyabi lifted the edge of the mat

and replaced the staff beneath it. "Before I leave," she

said, still holding a corner up, "if Kaeri or either of the

Ryos comes, you... you... just stay put, you hear? I'll be

right back."

It was silly, she knew, but it almost felt as if the

staff understood her.

Feet, do your stuff, Ratiko commanded. The feet did.

Behind him, the warehouse collapsed in on itself in a pile

of broken timber and rended metal. The attack had been

aimed at the precise point where Rat had landed after his

great-grandfather broke his nose again with a

perfectly-placed blow of his fist. The searing beam of

yellow light had torn through the wall, the warehouse

interior, and the opposite wall. All the windows of the

dockside warehouse had blown out from the resulting

shockwave, spraying the streets with glinting patterns of

glass.

Blood flowed copiously down Rat's chin as he ran down

the street, chest heaving as he passed in and out of the

circles of light weakly cast by the skeletal shapes of the

streetlamps. The pounding of Ryouga's footsteps on the

street followed him like the march of doom.

The pain of his rebroken nose was almost godlike in its

purity. Every step drove needles of pain straight back into

his brain. Ryouga was screaming something about it being

time for him to die. As that didn't fit into Rat's plans at

this point, he declined to, and simply kept on running. The

exquisiteness of agony can do a lot to drive the fog out of

one's brain sometimes, and Rat right now was no exception.

Once Ryouga had laid into him, he started to figure out what

he'd done wrong. Telling his great-grandfather the precise

details of the future he needed to bring about had been a

very, very bad idea.

The telltale sun-bright glow from behind alerted him to

Ryouga's building-up of another ki attack, and he threw

himself sideways through the conveniently open door of the

warehouse he was passing. In his haste, he never looked at

the sign over the door:

Mottomokutsu Industries: If It's Sharp, We Make It!

It is events such as these that cause people to think

that there quite possibly _is_ someone in charge of the

universe, and that He or She has a very nasty sense of

humour.

"Kas... Kaeri? What are you doing out here?"

The girl formerly known as Kasumi spared a glance at

Akane and flashed a brief smile.

"Kaeri, what are you doing here?" asked Akane. "We were

all worred about you!"

The elder Tendo frowned. "Everyone?" she said quietly.

"How'd you get up here, anyway? Usually, we all have to

jump up here to-"

"I climbed."

Looking again, Akane saw that there wer small cuts and

scrapes on Kaeri's face, hands, and knees. Some of the

tiles leading to the guest room were also out of place,

clearly where she pulled herself up.

Akane nodded. "Is there... is there something on your

mind?"

Kaeri nodded.

"Do... you want to talk about it?"

Kaeri shook her head.

"Do you... do you need time alone?"

"No."

Akane blinked. "No?"

"No. Please stay," said Kaeri softly. There was a

desperation in her voice, so severe it touched Akane deeply.

The youngest Tendo nodded, taking Kaeri's hand in hers.

It had been a while since 'Kaeri' had arrived at the dojo.

During that time, it was a great relief to Akane and the

others, seeing Kaeri imrpove from a mad, shivering wreck to

a stronger, more composed woman. She was still jittery in

some respects, avoiding Kasumi like the plague, and looking

lost and in a daze at times, but she no longer was quick to

flee or cry. A lot of that was thanks to Miyabi, who'd

spent a lot of time with the alternate Kasumi. But

lately...

"Kaeri?"

"Hm?"

"Where did Miyabi go?"

"Out."

"She didn't say where?"

Kaeri shook her head and sighed. Thinking of Miyabi

used to cheer her up, but now it saddened her. The girl was

becoming harsher, more sneer in her voice than usual and

more snap in her answers. Each insult was a slap, each

snide remark a stab to the heart.

Oh yes, her mind was clearer now. She could clearly see

how Miyabi was slowly beginning to hate her.

Below, the sound of a broom scraping on brick caught

Kaeri's attention. She looked down below and saw her other

self, Kasumi, the one that hadn't had her life torn down in

flames and ashes. She felt mixed emotions, looking at her

alternate self.

Oh, how much she hated Kasumi. Blind, obvlivious,

stupid girl. Doesn't know what's happening around her AT

ALL. Stupid stupid girl, letting her family die.

Oh, how much she envied Kasumi. Carefree, innocent and

happy. Where every day was a good day, making everyone

happy with the little things she did around the house.

Happy happy happy.

Sweeping.

For some reason the sight of the broomstick in Kasumi's

hand caught Kaeri's eye.

The staff.

Missing.

Long unused mental gears began to creak. Kaeri wondered

where Miyabi was indeed.

Akane, finally noticing Kaeri staring at Kasumi with a

frightening intensity, squeezed her hand. "Kaeri?"

"I'm okay, Akane. Everything's okay."

As Rat's body concentrated on the task of running the

hell away from Ryouga, Rat's brain was currently going

through what might be described as one major bitch of an

identity crisis.

The Onocorp O.P.I.M. chip was designed to preserve the

existence of its host above all else. Unfortunately, its

designers had neglected to consider such scenarios as the

host being pursued by a homicidal ancestor intent on

reducing him to a fine paste. Computers, even extremely

sophisticated and intricately tiny ones, do not like

contradictions such as this.

The quick-thinking but limited 'brain' of the O.P.I.M.

chip ran through the situation in a fraction of the eyeblink

of a split second:

1) Attacker is fixated upon host and has capacity to

injure fatally or severely enough to make future

survival difficult.

2) Attacker is unlikely to cease attempting to kill

host unless injured fatally or severely enough to make

future survival difficult.

3) Attacker's anger will not dissipate with time,

making flight futile and dangerous.

4) Attacker is ancestor of host. Must live for host

to come into being.

5) Host must survive at all costs.

6) Host will not come into existence without survival

of attacker.

7) Host will not survive without fatal or crippling

injury of attacker.

8) Fatal or crippling injury of ancestor of host is

forbidden.

The O.P.I.M. programming did what any other decent

software would do when faced with an internal contradiction.

It went absolutely haywire.

Ryouga stalked into the dim warehouse like a

bandanna-clad angel of death. Shadows lay thick like swamp

murk throughout the building, the dim wash of light from

outside that pierced through the dusty and high-set windows

the only source of illumination. Wooden crates as tall as

he was lay eveywhere, in many places stacked haphazardly

atop each other as a child's building blocks.

"Come on out, little Rat," he snarled.

"Great-grandfather wants to have a talk with you."

"Abort, retry, fail?"

Ryouga blinked. "Huh?"

"Runtime error."

As his eyes adjusted to the dim light, the Lost Boy cast

his gaze about in search of his descendant. What horrible

repercussions Ranma's death would have, he thought sickly.

All that monstrosity and pain come about because of one

untimely end.

And Ratiko wanted to bring it all about just so he could

exist.

The selfish little worm. He wasn't _worthy_ to be born

of Ryouga's line.

"Must be from Ukyou's side," Ryouga muttered. "He _did_

say she ended up in a mental institute."

Ratiko had gone oddly silent after his strange words of

before. Ryouga crept deeper into the warehouse, tensed and

ready.

"Fatal error great-grand abort father rebooting don't

running hurt corneredrat ME!"

Ryouga spun. Ten feet behind him, Rat's eyes glowed in

the darkness, a swirl of white and black that merged into a

grey so intense it hurt to look upon. Air writhed in agony

around Ratiko's cupped hands.

Then the world turned white as new snow. Ryouga flew

through the air, clipped a precarious stack of crates, and

yelled out in surprise as they collapsed atop him and buried

him. The ki blast had been achingly cold, a solid hammer of

ice.

Ratiko walked disjointedly towards the fallen crates,

synapses randomly firing like firecrackers on New Year's

Day. Within his brain, the O.P.I.M. chip pulled him one way

and then the other like a deranged puppet master. Base

insticts of fight and flight were stimulated simultaneously,

and Rat's body jerkily tried to follow both at once.

"BAKUSAI TEN-KETSU!"

The crates exploded outward, and hurled their inventory

of pins, needles and nails through the air in a hurricane of

steely death.

"Processing HOLY response SHIT!"

Rat's left leg went one way, and his right went the

other. The end result made him sprawl to the floor, and let

the scything wave of sharp implements pass overhead.

Ryouga shoved the remains of the crates off himself and

strode over to where the prone Ratiko lay twitching and

writhing as the Onocorp device merrily turned upon itself.

"He's completely insane," Ryouga said as he watched a

thin stream of drool slide from Rat's mouth. He almost

pitied the boy, but then...

If Rat had his way, Akane would die.

Ryouga reached down to pick Rat up by the head, in

preparation to embedding him several feet into the concrete

floor. Somewhere amidst the spasms of malfunctioning

software, the chip made Rat swing a foot up and catch Ryouga

squarely between the legs.

Ryouga gasped softly, and fell over in the way that only

a solid and unexpected kick in the jewels can make a man

fall.

A wild chance made the chip come to a coherent decision.

Ratiko sprang up onto his feet and ran.

Ryouga staggered to his feet a moment later to see Rat

darting around the edge of a crate stack. Lost from sight.

He might never find him in this darkness. Ratiko would get

away, and he'd kill Ranma, and Akane would kill herself, and

it would be all his fault...

Those thoughts were depressing enough. The throbbing

pain from the good kick Rat had given him in his softest

bits just pushed it over the edge.

"AAAAAAAAHHHHH!"

The column of searing yellow light shot through the roof

of the warehouse, a bolt hurled at the heavens. Like a

pillar dividing earth from sky, it hung for all of a second

in a flaring glory of power against the stars. On the

boats, the seamen panicked, blinded by the intensity of the

light.

Then it fell. There was no distinct sound of the

half-dozen warehouses within the radius of the blast being

smashed into flinders; everything was lost to the enormous

muffled whump of the blast touching down.

When the light cleared from the eyes of the seamen,

there was an enormous crater filled with debris. Broken

lamp posts threw clouds of sparks like fireflies against the

night, and tangles of overhead power lines sizzled and

cracked amidst the ruins. In the wreckage of an entire two

blocks of the harbour district, two figures stood.

One had his fists clenched at his sides. The air around

him still blurred and shimmered from the force of the blast

he had just unleashed.

The other had his arms flying out to his sides. His

legs were pumping frantically. The blast had laid him flat

out on the ground, but now he was running as if... as if...

Well, as if his homicidal and pissed-off ancestor was

trying to kill him. Sometimes a metaphor just isn't more

appropriate than the genuine reality.

Needless to say, with two Hibikis in a high-speed chase,

it didn't take them long to leave Tokyo. Or Asia, for that

matter.

"The... birds. They're singing, aren't they?" Kaeri

whispered. She looked up towards Miyabi with eyes that were

flat and dull, but had a spark of interest. Miyabi grinned,

nodding.

"Mmm, hmm. Are you done with that soup, or not? I've got

to get the bowl back into the kitchen before Kasumi starts

the di... Aaaack! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! Don't start with

the sobbing again! Geez! I meant-"

"Miyabi, could we talk for a minute?" It was Akane.

Miyabi took the occasion to retreat, leaving Kaeri be.

"Sure. What's up, Mum?"

"I meant..." Akane rubbed the knuckles of her left hand

with the palm of her right. "Not here."

"What, don't wanna offend Scarface's sensibilities?

Don't worry 'bout it. She's gettin' tougher. Aren't ya,

auntie?" Miyabi punched Kaeri's shoulder playfully and paid

no attention to the ensuing gasp and hiss.

"She's not the only one getting tougher."

"Oh, yeah? What's on your mind, Mum?"

"You're changing."

"That'd be neat trick, considering the amount of

clothes around here that fits me. I've got to scramble just

to keep myself with fresh undies."

"Are you..." Kaeri was trying to speak again. "Do

you... help your parents with the laundry?"

"Why do you wanna know?"

"Miyabi..." Akane looked at her daughter sternly.

"Okay! Okay! I get the point! Geeze... Yeah, sure, I

help when they ask me, but I don't like it or anything. I'm

tidy, but I'm not a clean freak like your twin sister back

there." She jerked a thumb at the kitchen. "Oh? Was that

the last of the soup?" It wasn't, but she grabbed the bowl

from Kaeri's hands anyway. "I'll just take that to the

kitchen for you, then I'm going out for a while."

"But I..." Kaeri's hands still held an ethereal bowl.

Her fingers began to open and close. "I want to hear..."

"Cheer up. Mum can tell you stories. Catch you later!"

There was silence for a while after Miyabi left the

room, then Akane sat on the edge of the couch and began to

gossip. She couldn't go on for long, though.

"Go on," said Kaeri. "You were saying, about Ranma and

Tatewaki..."

"I'm sorry, I just... I'm worried about Miyabi.

She's... different."

"Yes."

"Not herself."

"No, she isn't."

"All this anger, and her snappy comments... Do you think

it's because Ranma and I... I mean... We're engaged, but it

was kind of against our wills, and we never KNEW it could

work out before she came, so we still fight so much... Do

you think THAT'S what has her... like this?"

Kaeri shook her head.

"You and Ranma... you shouldn't fight. But

Miyabi... I think she has a new friend."

"A new friend?"

"Yes. One of mine."

And with that Kaeri fell silent.

The O.P.I.M. chip liked running. Yeah. It had finally

figured it out. Definitely. Definitely running. As long

as Rat kept on running, Ryouga couldn't kill him.

Definitely. Definitely good.

And the change in scenery was nice, too. Fresh air, the

Champs Elysee, the Kremlin... Maybe it'd allow Rat to make a

pit stop in Brussels before lunch. Its programmers had

always wanted to see Brussels.

All it had to do was keep Rat running forever, and he'd

be fine. Definitely. Keep him running through everything.

Through anything.

Rat slammed through an electric fence, flooding the chip

with more juice than it'd ever tasted before.

Yeah. That was the ticket.

The herd of... O.P.I.M. made Rat's head turn and read

the sign above the proper entrance to the corral,

'Entrada prohibida: Toros reservados para la corrida de

Pamplona'. Ah. Yes. The herd of Spanish bulls was most

definitely NOT the ticket.

Miyabi held the staff down on the ground before her, on

its upper end with both hands. She closed her eyes. It was

trying to speak to her; she knew that... maybe she just

wasn't concentrating enough.

"I know you want to tell me something... but can't you

just... speak up?" Symbols that she'd never seen before

floated across her mind's eye. They felt... familiar,

somehow. "What... what are these? Are they... letters?

What-" The figures began to dance, and twirl; they were

trying to arrange themselves in a way she could understand,

they were trying to... She gripped the staff at midlength,

now, and brought her hands against her chest. "You're too

far... too... If only we could melt, or... or bind

together, I..." The symbols were transforming, now. Their

edges were dissolving and reshaping themselves into contours

well-known to Miyabi. "You're... That's it! I..." She

could feel her brain being picked for her native tongue. It

felt like a kiss or a caress, and she helped it along. "Only

a bit more, now..." Gold and black swirled and twisted,

fading into brown, then flashing into- "AAAAAARGH!"

"Miyabi-chan, thank-you for taking care of this for me.

Now I need it back." The girl didn't answer Kaeri. She was

too busy clutching her head and moaning. "You really,"

said the woman, wiping the rod with the edge of her smock,

"should dust more often. Where were you keeping it? It

likes the dark." Some hissing from Miyabi. Kaeri didn't

heed it, but only frowned and looked ahead with a blank

look. "It likes you, too," she concluded. "I've told it

that it can't have you. It's mine."

The staff flared red for a moment, and with it Miyabi

writhed in pain. And then they both fell silent.

Kaeri gazed at the staff one more time, sternly.

"You're mine."

There were further curses and shouts, but these came

from below.

Ryo Saotome fell to earth, azure flames clinging to his

body. His mind was burning as well, hit with a massive

nausea and throbbing migrane. He was vaguely aware of the

others landing roughly with grunts of pain and cries of

anger, but his own pain made them far less of a priority.

He staggered to his feet and looked around.

"It's blue," he muttered, clutching his head with a

hand.

He was vaguely aware of steadying hands helping him to

his feet.

Mother?

"Ow... man, y'gotta work on those landings."

No, father. That's right, he was a girl at the moment.

"Pop?" Ryo asked weakly. "Some... something went wrong.

Is everyone okay?"

"Sorta."

"Sorta?"

"We all kinda got burned by some weird blue flame too.

Childra's unconscious, Ishido's kinda awake, and Muhoshin's

still out."

"N'you?"

"Been better. You okay?"

"Yeah, pop, Just fine. But why's everything blue?"

"Blue?"

"Ohboy." Ryo's stomach churned and he fell to his

knees. He fought the urge to throw up and lost, wretching

up dark blue bile.

Ryo shakily wiped his mouth and stared at the azure pool

below him. "This... is not good."

"Oh man," said Ranma quietly. "C'mon, Ryo. Let's get

the doc to look at ya."

"No, I know what's wrong." He slipped the lockets into

Ranma's hands. "Pop, s'important. Hide'em, but not in the

same place. Don't... tell... anynnn..." His eyes sealed

shut, and Ryo Saotome slumped unconscious in his father's

arms.

"Oww!"

Burma had blurred into Bangkok, which morphed into an

industrial area in the suburbs of Berlin. The Hibikis

continued their chase along a bleak landscape of girders and

piles of sand, eventually, inevitably entering a dimly-lit

warehouse full of hazardous materials.

The sign above the door?

Mottomokutsu Industrien, Deutscher Zweig:

Leben-drohende Substanzen eine Spezialitt

Rat kept on running, trying frantically to unwrap

several coils of American razor wire from his legs as he

did. He had to keep on running, or Ryouga was going to catch

him. For some reason, it the razor wire didn't actually

_hurt_; he only removed it because it inconvenienced the

fastest running possible. His nose didn't hurt anymore

either. Nothing had for ages. It was as if some kind god

had filled his entire system with so many amphetamines and

pain-killers that he could have run through a pool of

electrified acid and not felt a thing.

Speaking of that...

It seemed almost contrived, but what the hey? One of

the many suspiciously fragile containers in the building

had broken open, and the industrial-strength acid it held

had just happened to spread across the floor in such a way

that the stripped wires of the conveniently fallen power

lines had dropped into the edge.

Somehow, it made absolutely perfect sense to run through

it. It was, after all, the quickest route away from the

pursuing Ryouga.

"Oww,oww,oww,oww,oww."

Funny. He kept on screaming. It was as if his _body_

were aware that this hurt, but something were keeping the

pain signals from reaching his _brain_. What a stupid

notion. He promptly forgot it. In fact, he couldn't even

remember what he'd been thinking about in the first place.

Except running.

"Hey, wow," he said as he noticed something sharp pierce

the sole of his shoe. "More caltrops." Obviously,

Mottomokutsu Industries believed in sharing products among

its branches. "Groovy." He giggled.

Darkness.

Ryo Saotome found himself enshrouded in it, his head

still spinning, though more slowly than it had been when

they first landed.

In the distance, he saw a shimmering blue light. From

past experiences, he was already wary of it but had no other

direction to go. Cautiously, he approached it, and found

that it wasn't one light, but many.

He found himself surrounded by infinite shimmering

points of light, and as his eyes passed them he saw brief

visions of people and places, some familiar, some alien.

Alternate realities, he realized. This is what he was

looking at.

But... how did he get here?

It felt an awful lot like a hangover for Childra Jansen.

Headache, dizzy feeling, all the other usual symptoms.

"Not fair," she mumbled. "I don't remember a party."

"Miss Jansen?"

"Mrr?"

She slowly opened her eyes. A blurry, bespecled face

gazed down at her.

"Ishido, s'at you?"

"Sorry, miss. Just me, Dr. Tofu. You're here at my

clinic."

Childra rubbed her eyes, then tried to sit up. A gentle

hand on her shoulder pushed her back down.

"Don't," said Tofu. "You need your rest."

"What happened?" asked Childra, closing her eyes and

resting on the bed once more. "Where's Ishido?"

"He's resting, like you. You're all are suffering

exposure to some strange energy. With time and some rest

you should all recover."

"Mm. Good."

Tofu watched as Childra closed her eyes and rested

again, then pulled the curtain around her bed and left. A

few seconds passed, then Childra slowly rose from her bed

and pulled aside the curtain around her bed. Around her,

several other curtains were drawn, no doubt the other beds.

She walked quiety across the room to the other curtains,

peeking inside at every one.

Curtain number one... Ranma.

Curtain number two... his son, Ryo. Odd, thought

Childra, were his eyes glowing blue?

She moved on to the next curtain and nearly gasped. The

other Ryo was there, eyes wide open but lifeless. He laid

limp on the medical table, an empty shell. She particularly

noted the straitjacket that held him tightly, as well as the

handcuff that kept him attached to the bed. Strange, that

such a weak looking boy could be so dangerous.

Well then, curtain number four must be it. With a

smile, she parted the curtains and at last spied her dear

Ishido. He looked awfully cute, asleep like that. Like a

shark through water, she easily slid into the sheets,

embracing his unconscious form.

A few minutes later, she joined him in rest.

Ryouga raced after Rat. Up ahead, the floor was covered

in a glinting sea of spiky metal. Ryouga tried to guess by

Rat's posture which way he would go around it, but he hid

his intentions perfectly.

Then he ran through the caltrops, screaming all the way.

Ryouga blinked, and went left around them. This meant

that Ratiko got further ahead than him, but by the sounds

Rat made as he stepped on the caltrops, Rat could take the

lead that way if he wanted.

Sizzle. Hiss. Crackle.

"AIEEEEEEEEEEE!"

Surprised did not begin to describe Ryouga's reaction as

he watched Rat splash, howling in agony, through an

ankle-deep pool of electrified acid.

"How is he still moving?" Ryouga murmured as he skirted

around the acid. Rat got even further ahead. He seemed to

simply be running in a straight line away from Ryouga.

"AURGGGHHHH!"

Ryouga winced in mutual sympathy and took the long way

around the second bed of caltrops that had been laid down in

the rubbling of the warehouses.

Ryouga gulped.

Rat was going to get away if he kept on running like

this.

"For you, Akane!"

Good thing his boots were tough.

"Oww,oww,oww,oww,oww..."

"Feeling better?" asked Akane.

Miyabi nodded, sipping the tea afterwards very slowly.

"What happened to you anyway?" asked Akane. "I found

you unconscious and on the floor, and you looked like you

were in pain."

"Guess I just fell asleep and had a nightmare," answered

Miyabi, laughing nervously.

"You'll be glad to hear your dad's back."

Miyabi perked up. "He's okay?"

Akane nodded.

Miyabi frowned. "Wait, that means _he_'s back."

"Who?"

"My so-called half-brother. Did he manage to bring that

other guy back?"

Akane nodded.

Miyabi sighed. "Maybe we'll be able to go home now."

The girl missed the slight sadness in Akane's voice when

she replied, "Yes, I guess you will."

"Y'know, this really is good tea. You really made it?"

Miyabi asked her mother teasingly.

Akane played along, swatting Miyabi's arm. "Oh! I'm

not bad at -everything!-"

They laughed, and Miyabi closed her eyes, savoring the

moment.

Suddenly, it all came rushing back to her.

The staff. Her. What she did.

How she treated Kaeri.

"Oh no!"

"What?" asked Akane. "What is it?"

"Where's Kaeri? Oh God, I messed up, mum. I really

did, and now I've gotta go find her. Oh no-"

Akane tried to calm Miyabi down, putting a hand on her

arm. "Kaeri's okay. She just said she was going to take a

walk."

"Did you see if she was holding a stick?" asked Miyabi

frantically.

"Um, I think so..."

"Oh no! I've gotta go save her! Thanks, mum!" Before

Akane could say another word, Miyabi sprang up and ran like

the wind.

She rushed through the house, looking in every room,

around the yard, then hit the streets. That stick...

whatever it was... she had to get rid of it.

Over rooftops she ran, frantic in her search, speeding

across fences, hopping across boulderes in the waterways.

She searched all the places Kaeri might've gone to: the

markets, the malls, the parks, even Furinkan High.

And still she did not find her.

Where, thought Miyabi, just where would I go if I was a

scared, scarred Kasumi with a stick that radiates evil?

She snapped her fingers.

"Dr. Tofu's!"

Miyabi ran again, hoping she wasn't too late, hoping

Kaeri wouldn't do anything crazy, hoping she wouldn't arrive

just in time to witness the tail end of a bloody killing

spree winding down.

She ran into Dr. Tofu's clinic hectically, bursting

through the door. "Dr Tofu! Dr. Tofu! I-yeeeagh!"

She turned around quickly, blushing deep red as the

naked man in front of Tofu scrambled to cover up.

Naked man. And Tofu.

And the hand. Tofu's hand.

Whoa. Eep. Yikes.

Oh my.

"Um, Miyabi-chan," said Tofu. "We can talk after I'm

through with this rectal exam."

"Right! Okay! Leaving now! Sorry about that!"

Blushing redder than any human should, Miyabi quickly

stepped out of the office and closed the door, taking care

to NOT turn back.

"This is something I think we won't be telling mum," she

mutterd to herself.

With many deep breaths and thoughts about mundane

things, Miyabi finally got the blush off of her face. She

decided a walk around the block would be good. She'd rather

not look Dr. Tofu's patient in the face when he was done.

As she walked around one side of the building, her

senses began nagging her. Her father called it 'battle

sense' and her mother called it 'intuition'. Whatever it

was, it was usually right. She looked around slowly,

cautiously, then saw what was bothering her.

Kaeri.

She was perched in a tree overlooking the Tendo clinic,

peering into one of the windows intensely, the strange stick

clutched in her hands.

She approached Kaeri cautiously. "Auntie?"

Kaeri looked down, an eerie sort of calm in her eyes.

"Hello, Miyabi-chan," she said evenly.

"Auntie, I'm sorry!"

Kaeri tilted her head slightly, looking puzzled.

"Sorry?"

"I was being a real jerk before and I didn't even know

it and I really don't hate you and-"

"That's okay, Miyabi-chan. I understand."

"You do?"

Kaeri nodded, a light smile gracing her lips.

"Auntie... if you do understand, you know you have to

let go of the stick." Miyabi held a hand out, looking at

Kaeri with hopeful eyes.

Kaeri shook her head. "I have everything under control,

Miyabi-chan."

"That thing twisted me," argued Miyabi. "And it'll

twist you too. Please, auntie, before it's too late?"

Kaeri shook her head again. "You're not strong enough

to have it. I am."

"But when you came here you were a wreck! The staff-"

Kaeri closed her eyes, turning away. "The staff... was

not the problem."

"But-"

The expression on Kaeri's face when she looked into

Miyabi's eyes took her entirely by surprise. It wasn't the

troubled, haunted look that so dominated her, but a look of

utter calm and tranquility. It was a face you could only

find on Kasumi.

"Everything's fine now, Miyabi-chan. I promise."

And then it was gone, replaced by the more vulnerable

expression that usually was kept on Kaeri's face.

But she smiled. A little.

"Um, auntie," said Miyabi slowly. "Why are you here?

Is it because of... Dr. Tofu?"

Kaeri's troubled face darkened a little more. "No... I

don't think I should see him... not anymore." She

brightened, a little smile on her face. "I'm here to visit

someone else."

Someone else? But who else...

The image of Dr. Tofu's patient immediately slammed into

her head, causing Miyabi to blush badly again.

Nonono, can't be that, she mentally berated herself.

"Who?" she finally asked.

Kaeri pointed to the window. Standing on the ground,

Miyabi couldn't see, so she leapt up to join Kaeri, then

peered down.

Behind the window was a boy, pale, skinny, and

unconscious. His expression was entirely blank, devoid of

expression, and he was bound by a straitjacket.

"Him?" asked Miyabi.

Kaeri nodded, the small smile still evident.

Miyabi looked again. "Him?"

"Muhoshin-san," said Kaeri quietly. Miyabi could hear

the care in her voice.

"Isn't he the guy they were chasing after? Ryo and the

others?" asked Miyabi.

"Muhoshin-san is just... misunderstood. He was hurt,

like me."

"I don't know..."

"I do," Kaeri told her firmly. "He... he saved me. From

them." A slight tremor developed in her hand, quickly

stilled. "He helped me to get better, and he sat up with me

like you did, and... well... he was very nice."

Miyabi could see her cheeks color slightly.

"But Ryo's been chasing the guy..."

"Ryo hasn't done anything for me lately," Kaeri said,

her voice turning slightly cool. "Or for my family." She

frowned slightly. "He doesn't care, Miyabi-chan. Watch him.

He'll do what he thinks is the right thing, no matter how it

hurts..." She voice fell to a whisper. "And he's not right.

He shouldn't be here. You now how it's supposed to be. You

know Akane and Ranma love each other. So whose son is he?

What happened to have him born?" Kaeri smiled slightly, a

cold, empty thing. "Does he want things to be like that

here?"

Miyabi swallowed slightly. "He's a jerk, but I don't

think he'd..."

"Why not?" Kaeri pressed. "You tried to make things just

like home. The way they should be. What has this Ryo been

telling Ukyou, hmm? What has he been doing?"

"You don't think..." Miyabi trailed off, aghast. What if

he had? He disappeared and reappeared mysteriously, she knew

he'd spoken to Ukyou at least more than once, and she was

beginning to think that he'd MADE the locket in the first

place... what for?

"Would he?" she weakly finished.

Kaeri shrugged. "I don't know. But don't trust him. You

can trust Muhoshin-san, but don't trust him."

Miyabi glanced through the window once again, and

frowned. This was the terrible menace Ryo had been chasing?

The deadly martial artist and killer? He didn't look like he

could get through a set of push-ups, let alone take on Ryo

Saotome.

The frown deepened. If he'd taken care of Kaeri, he

couldn't be that bad. Certainly he had to be better than her

half-brother, who had apparently first ignored and then

dragged back a terribly hurt, traumatized woman.

The pursuit ended several hours later, in a blind alley

that backed up against a ten-story building only blocks from

the Tokyo dock where they'd started. Ryouga and Ratiko had

left a meandering trail of destruction throughout the

harbour district, which had only lessened a little after

the O.P.I.M. chip had let Rat move out of a straight line to

use doors rather than running straight through walls.

Both of them were bloody, bruised and nearly dead from

exhaustion. Rat staggered into the dark alley, and slumped

against a wall. Soon enough the sun would rise, but right

now the narrow space between buildings was filled with deep

shadows.

Even the greatest craftsman is only as good as his

tools. The O.P.I.M. chip had given its best, but Ryouga's

pursuit had been absolutely relentless. Now the host was so

exhausted that making him further exert himself could likely

lead to a heart attack or respiratory failure. Even the

continued manipulation of the chemical levels in his brain

and body was becoming dangerous. In response, the

beleaguered chip shut down all functions but the monitoring

of its host to await a time when it could safely affect his

actions to preserve his life.

Rat looked blearily up as his great-grandfather came

panting into the opening of the alleyway. The only way in

which the bone-tired Ryouga would have been able to kill Rat

right now would probably have been by falling on him from a

great height.

He was damn well going to try, however.

"C'mere, you little sociopath," he muttered.

"Great-grandfather wants to talk to you."

Rat backed further away into the depths of the alley,

and gulped as he realized there were no doors concealed

behind the rotting mounds of garbage, or some other means of

escape. It wasn't like he had the energy to run further

anyway. Once he came down from the effects of the chemical

stimulation the O.P.I.M. had done to him to keep him

running, he'd likely simply collapse.

Ryouga came closer, using his umbrella like a walking

stick. He giggled. "End of the line."

In one of those non-coincidental coincidences that

happened to Jusenkyou victims, someone poured a bucket of

mopping water out their apartment window on top of his head.

P-chan squealed.

Ratiko laughed hysterically. "The gods are on my side!"

he cried, and shook a fist at the sky.

Then P-chan bit Rat on the foot.

Rat screamed.

In the back of the alleyway, something shifted. Many

somethings. Feral eyes glowed redly as lean and hungry

shapes padded out on four limbs from their nest amidst the

garbage.

Rat stared at the wild dogs. "Shit," he muttered.

The wild dogs stared at Rat and P-chan, and said, "Arf."

This translated in their crude but ugly language as

'breakfast'.

Being threatened by a hungry pack of dogs can do wonders

for making you feel invigorated again. Rat and P-chan

paused for a split second, and then took off as if... as

if...

Well, as if they were both being chased by an enormous

pack of savage wild dogs. Once again, reality takes over

where metaphor fails.

It used to be quiet.

"Muhoshin-san?"

Until the voice.

"Muhoshin-san, can you hear me?"

He felt slightly irritated at the voice, interrupting

the peace and quiet that the absolute void held for him.

After bearing witness to infinity, some time spent in

absolute nothingness was what his mind desperately needed.

"Muhoshin-san?"

The voice seemed familiar, and it stirred something

within him. A memory of something.

Her.

Slowly, he opened his eyes.

The world was draped in shadows, yet what little

illumination there was showed enough to warm his heart.

"Kas..." He said, his voice barely audible and his

throat stining dry. "Kaeri."

"Muhoshin-san!"

He felt soft arms surround him, and the scent that only

a woman's hair could carry filled his nose.

"Where... where am I?"

"You're in Dr. Tofu's clinic."

"I... see. And... the others?"

"They're here too, sleeping."

Muhoshin nodded slightly, then closed his eyes again.

It felt good, being there, with her like this. He could get

used to it, certainly.

Though something... something was missing.

Muhoshin narrowed his eyes.

"Where... where is... where is my locket?" he hissed.

"I don't know, Muhoshin-san. I didn't see it when you

came back and the other Ryo didn't have it, but-"

"I need that locket," he hissed, his voice becoming

angrier. "I need the locket. I need it now."

"Muhoshin-san, please, you need to rest."

"I do not need to rest, I need that loc-" Muhoshin's

next words were lost as he coughed and wheezed, what little

energy he had left quickly drained by it.

"Muhoshin-san, please rest," said Kaeri softly. She

gave him a gentle kiss on the cheek, then tucked him in.

"I'll look for the locket. Don't worry."

"Kaeri... don't tell..."

"Hm?"

"Don't tell them... I'm awake."

"I won't."

And with that reassurance, Muhoshin closed his eyes and

returned to oblivion.

Miyabi waited patiently outside while Kaeri snuck inside

and talked with Muhoshin. While she didn't mean to, she

watched from the window as Kaeri spoke to the boy.

She was surprised when she saw Kaeri suddenly embrace

him, and couldn't help but feel happy for her when she saw

how happy Kaeri was at that moment.

A moment later, Kaeri returned, looking much better than

before. Not normal, not Kasumi-normal, but not so much on

edge anymore.

"Let's go home," she said with a smile.

"Um, okay." As the two walked, Miyabi eyed Kaeri

curiously. "So... he's okay?"

Kaeri nodded happily, then frowned. "Oh, Miyabi-chan,

please don't tell anyone I talked to him. It's very

important, please?"

A strange request, but Miyabi didn't see the harm in it.

"Well, okay."

"Thank you, Miyabi-chan."

As one day passed to the next, the various members of

Ryo Saotome's transdimensional team eventually recovered

from their illnesses.

Ranma, with his natural toughness and high constitution,

was first to recover and return home. Ishido was released

soon after, but remained at the clinic until Childra was

declared healthy enough the day after.

Only two people remained: the two Ryos.

Ryo Saotome tossed and turned, uneasy in his slumber.

Sometimes Ranma would visit, mixed emotions brought forth as

he watched his possible future son's troubled sleep.

Sometimes Ukyou would visit, motherly worry obvious on her

face as she tended to her 'son' with care.

Ryo Muhoshin on the other hand, was absolutely comatose

and unmoving. He was still seemingly comatose and left

unguarded while the others recovered from their illness,

though that changed when Ishido found out. After he raised

an uproar about how careless it was to leave him unguarded,

a constant vigil was kept on Muhoshin.

Sometimes it was Ishido himself, with a suspicious

glare. Sometimes it was Childra with a baleful stare. Two

Nerima 'regulars' also took turns, Ranma with a lazy

demeanor, though his attention was far sharper than it

appeared to be, and Ukyou, who watched over Muhoshin with

the diligence of a prison warden. And sometimes it was

Miyabi on guard duty, looking curiously at the so-called

menace that was Ryo Muhoshin.

Ryo Saotome remained unconscious for quite some time.

Ryo Muhoshin, despite all appearances, was far more

alert than he appeared to be.

"Hello."

Childra nearly had a heart attack, being used to nothing

but silence while on guard duty. She immediately whirled

around, her bo whipping out just short of his head.

He stared at her blankly with dead eyes.

"Hello," he said again.

"Yeah, hello to you too," she replied sarcastically. He

merely blinked at her.

"Hello," he said again, still looking mostly blank.

"Ah, a few marbles short I see."

"Maybe."

She stared at him, gripping her bo, as he simply went to

sleep.

Ishido glared at him.

Ryo stared back, though with a fairly blank expression.

"You're not fooling anyone, Muhoshin," grumbled Ishido.

"No, I'm not," replied Muhoshin casually. He closed his

eyes and relaxed on the bed, a slightly smug grin on his

lips. "Tell me," he said calmly. "You love that Jansen

girl, yes?"

"And if you EVER lay a hand on her again-"

"I'm not the one," he interrupted calmly, "that you

should worry about."

"Huh?"

"You. Her. Different worlds," purred Muhoshin. "You

know he won't let this situation continue."

"What? What are you talking about?"

"Isn't... isn't that other Ryo so keen on 'setting

things right'? Hm?"

"What does that have to do with anything?"

Muhoshin sighed. "Think about it. I'm feeling tired."

And with no further words, Muhoshin went to sleep.

Night came to pass over Nerima, once more bringing rest

to most of her children.

In Tofu's clinic, Ryo Saotome spent another night in

restless sleep, unknown visions plaguing his dreams. Ryo

Muhoshin slept just as uneasily, his hand over a

heart-shaped hole in his chest where his locket once burned.

Sitting by him, Ishido slept lightly, awakened by the

slightest sound. His sleep was far from relaxed.

In Ucchan's, Ukyou dreamed of a future with her Ranma,

and their son Ryo. It was a happy dream, filled with a

sweet kisses and promises of happy tomorrows.

All was dark in the Tendo home, with her inhabitants at

rest once more.

Except for one, and she'd done this before.

Kaeri wandered the grounds in darkness once more, this

time with slow and methodical searching instead of the

desperate scrabbling she'd done last time.

There were so many places to hide a locket.

Oh, so many.

And on the next day, Ryo Saotome rose from his sleep.

"Ah, I see you're finally awake," said Dr. Tofu.

Ryo groaned.

"How are you feelling?"

"Tired," said Ryo. "The others?"

"They're all fine," Tofu assured him.

"How... how long have I been out?"

"A couple of days," said Tofu.

Ryo's eyes widened. "DAYS?!" He suddenly stood up,

only to slump back into bed. "Damn... still weak."

"Hey, don't rush things," said Tofu. "You'll only make

yourself more sick." Seeing Ryo settling back into bed,

Tofu relaxed.

"Think I know... why," said Ryo weakly.

"Why?" asked Tofu.

"Lockets... was holding both lockets... must've been...

some sorta feedback."

Tofu nodded. "That might explain the disruption in your

aura. I'll let Ranma know you're awake now. You just get

your rest."

Ryo nodded and sunk lower into the blankets. More rest

was definitely needed.

Everything was still blue.

"Hello," said Muhoshin, still as wooden and unemotional

as he was the day before. Childra found his gaze eerie,

despite its lack of malice.

"Hello to you too," said Childra in a fairly unfriendly

manner.

"He's awake," said Muhoshin.

"The other Ryo? Yeah, he's awake," said Childra,

keeping a hand on her bo.

"You said goodbye to Ishido, I guess."

Childra glared at him for a moment, then laughed. "And

why would I do that? You're in no position to do anything

to us."

Muhoshin raised an eyebrow. "All I have to do is

watch."

"And what's that mean?"

"Other Ryo."

"You're talking nonsense," said Childra.

"He's all for setting things... ah... in order."

Muhoshin gazed at her flatly for a moment, then closed his

eyes and sighed. "Ishido doesn't belong in your world. You

don't belong in his."

"That doesn't matter," she replied, sounding a little

bitter.

They stayed there in silence for a while, Muhoshin

looking very relaxed while Childra seemed disturbed.

Finally, Muhoshin spoke again. "Help me stop him."

"Why should I? You tried to kill us last time."

"You... *yawn* you were trying to take my precious away

from me." Muhoshin stretched and scratched his side, eyes

still closed. "Help me. You'll stay together."

"You've lied before."

Muhoshin opened one eye and peered at her. "Take your

chances with the boy scout, then."

Kaeri strode through the upper hall, grinding her mental

gears in time to her footsteps. She ran through her

checklist again. Nothing seemed to be missing, and there

was little left to do. Everything was almost right; she was

almost ready to leave this place with Muhoshin-san.

Almost.

They both had Work to do. Maybe this time they could do

it together. Now, wouldn't that be nice?

She decided that it would be. A task shared is a task

enjoyed, and Kaeri hadn't realised how lonely she'd become

until meeting Miyabi. She had needed this. Just... a rest.

A break. To pull herself together. To sort things out.

To claw herself upwards through the slime with her

fingernails, away from the the blazing depths of the pit of

insanity - but it had already singed her.

That worried her. She couldn't afford to go mad. Or

madder. She suspected that she wasn't completely sane...

but then, who was? Who cared? As long as it didn't

interfere with the Work, as long as it didn't get too bad,

as long as the shadows stayed out of sight...

And then there was her staff.

It was lying on her bed, at the moment.

She could feel it.

Miyabi was too weak, too easily snared. She didn't have

the will to deal with it. Perhaps being a little insane

wasn't so bad after all. Kaeri was many things, but weak

was not one of them. Now that she knew exactly what the

staff was, she could deal with it. Not master it, but deal

with it.

It wanted to kill things. That was fine with her;

certain things needed to be killed. But only certain things.

She would make the decisions, not it, but it would take

effort. A lot of it. The staff was strong, and cunning...

it waited for just the right moment, subtly trying to color

her emotions and mind in the process.

Now that she knew what to look for, it would have a

harder time of things. But even with her added knowledge,

what lay ahead was still rather worrying.

In fact, Kaeri was so caught up in her brooding that

she utterly forgot to keep one of her major goals in mind;

namely, avoiding Kasumi and, with the inevitability of such

events, she turned the corner and nearly ran straight into

the eldest Tendo sister.

Kasumi blinked, tried for a smile, faltered, and then

managed a brightly polite beam. "Oh dear. Hello."

Kaeri favored her with the sort of polite look one gives

a friendly mangy dog. "Hello."

There was an awkward pause, and then Kaeri began to walk

past her double.

"Why do you hate me?"

Kaeri stopped, slowly turned. The smile on Kasumi's face

was as immutable as the pyramids.

She shrugged. "Because you're blind."

Kasumi smiled in silence.

"Because you're stupid."

The smile seemed to twitch a little. It must, Kaeri

thought, have been her imagination.

"Because..." The word she needed was one that had lain

long unused in her vocabulary. "Because you're happy."

This last dissolved the sugary lipcurve so that the

human vegetable could ask a question.

"Aren't you any of those?"

Kaeri sighed. "No. Not anymore." Her double was a

potato. Or a turnip. Probably not as advanced as a leek,

and radishes had too much character.

"Who are you?"

"I was you."

Kasumi nodded slowly. "Why would I hate myself? I don't

really hate anything."

"You can learn."

"Oh dear. I'd really rather not."

Kaeri almost laughed. "You'd rather not. You'd.

rather. not. You think... I CHOSE? The fire came. I

didn't know it could burn more than trash and cookies. But

now I do. You can learn. I've learned. And sometimes,

'I'd rather not' just isn't good enough. Life doesn't work

like that. I tried it, once, and it all ended."

"What happened?"

"I went to a seminar in Osaka. I came back, and they

were all dead." She poked her double lightly in the chest.

"People think they take you for granted, but it's really the

other way around. What would you do without them? Who would

you cook for? What would you clean?" Again she poked Kasumi,

this time not so gently. "Stupid girl. What would you do

when your reason for living dies? All you do is take care of

them. What happens when they're gone?"

"They're not going any..."

Her hand came around hard, catching Kasumi on the side

of the cheek with a echoing slap. "That's what I thought,

you stupid girl! That's exactly what I thought, and then

they were DEAD! So I had a choice, you see... I had fallen

out of heaven, and landed in hell, and I could either stay

there or use the Nanban Mirror to fix things..." She

chuckled, watching as Kasumi rubbed at the side of her

cheek, a nervous look in her eyes. "I did. I fixed things.

But you can never go home again. I fixed things for some

other Kasumi, who had never had anyone cut off her fingers,

or put her face to a hot grill. The same blind, stupid,

worthless Kasumi as always. Not me. So I had left hell, and

you can't ever go back to heaven, and that just leaves

purgatory."

"Envy is a very bad reason to hate someone," Kasumi said

softly.

Kaeri stared at her for a moment, and then slumped.

"Maybe. But it's not just that. You just take care of the

easy things, girl. The things you enjoy. You ignore the

rest, and they can't afford that. Open your eyes and pay

attention."

"But..."

"No buts. I know you. Don't think you can hide from me.

I know you think that if you just do what Mother did,

everything will be okay. That's a lie. It won't."

Kasumi flinched. "It has been, though. It really..."

The second slap actually sent her sprawling. "IDIOT! It

was 'all right' because _I_ made it so! Because _I_ went

back and was cut and burned! So they could live, and so you

could be stupid and happy! It could have been you, you

stupid little girl! It should have been! I just want to go

home and have things the way they were, but I can't because

you're in my place!"

Kasumi slowly climbed to her feet. "Don't... don't you

hit me. I won't..."

Kaeri laughed. "You can't stop me. You're weak. You

don't have the will. But you could have. And maybe you will,

because I'm going to tell you a secret."

"A secret?"

Kaeri winked with her one good eye. "A secret. You see,

my seminar? It hasn't happened yet. This place is a year

behind my timeline."

Kasumi stared at her. "What does that..."

Kaeri giggled. "It means that what happened to me hasn't

occured her yet. If it occurs. I'm not sure whether it will

or not. The locket is funny; some places are so alike, and

some are so different... who knows? You might be the eariler

me. Or maybe you'll be weaker than I was, and will just kill

yourself after your entire world is destroyed. Or maybe

you'll just rot in your empty little apartment. Who knows?

Maybe nothing will happen at all."

She turned, and continued down the hallway. "But don't

bet on it, Kasumi."

It felt good to be back on his feet, mused Ryo Saotome.

Though he wasn't on his feet at the moment, he was at least

finally out of bed.

Though Ranma had argued against it, Ryo took guard duty

over Muhoshin. He was hoping to talk some sense into his

adversary, even though all previous attempts had failed

miseraby.

Never giving up was something he liked to think he'd

gotten from his father.

"Hello, Muhoshin."

His adversary, on the other hand, seemed to have lost

his fight. He laid passively on his bed, not struggling to

get out of his straitjacket at all. According to the

others, he hadn't made any attempt to escape at all.

Even now, Muhoshin seemed eerily passive.

"Hello," said Muhoshin, taking a moment to open his eyes

and glance briefly at his nemesis. After that, he settled

back into silence, closing his eyes.

While Ryo was generally a good speaker, Muhoshin's

passive attitude left him speechless.

And so they passed an hour this way, Ryo watching over

Muhoshin in peace and quiet.

"Saotome," said Muhoshin, suddenly breaking the silence.

"Yeah?"

"If you're up and about, why aren't we all home yet?"

asked Muhoshin, suspicion in his voice.

"I'm still not feeling entirely well."

"Ah. Everything still a nice shade of blue?" There was

a hint of a sneer in his voice.

Ryo ignored it.

"Saotome," said Muhoshin. "If I asked you to give me my

locket back... you would say no, wouldn't you?"

"I would."

"And if I were to get it back, you'd chase me again."

"Yeah. Muhoshin, you're not we-"

"That's all I needed to know."

"But-"

"Quiet. I'd like to rest. Things are still a nice

shade of blue. I'm sure you know the feeling."

Once more, they fell into silence. And once more

Muhoshin broke it.

"Saotome?"

"Yeah?"

"You're a lot like me."

Ryo frowned. "What's that supposed to mean?" Whatever

it meant, Muhoshin declined to say.

Miyabi peered cautiously around her, making sure there

would be none to overhear her conversation.

"Hey, Muhoshin, you awake?"

He lazily lifted an eyelid. "Hmm?"

"I've been thinking about what Kaeri said about you

and... did you really save her life?"

Muhoshin's expression darkened. "Yes, yes I did."

She looked him sternly in the eye. "So what would you

do if I set you free?"

"If I'm what they made me out to be, I guess I'd sneak

up on them and slit their throats. But of course, I'm not

like that. Instead, I'll just take my locket and leave."

"You're not gonna hurt anyone?"

He remained silent for a while, then finally replied.

"I only bite when bitten."

"Okay, then. I'm gonna let you go, but-"

"Not yet."

"Hm?"

"Don't release me yet. Kas... Kaeri hasn't found my

locket yet. No sense in alarming the others too early."

"Um... okay."

Irritated by his lack of progress with Muhoshin, and

feeling restless in general, Muhoshin took a walk once

Miyabi came in to take over the watch.

No sense delaying returning them home, right? The

longer he put it off, the more he ran the risk of something

going wrong again.

Everything was in place for him to go home again. No

sense in putting it off, right?

He found himself at the Tendo residence and hesitated as

he stood at its gate. Before, he'd always felt good when he

saw this place. Now, however, there was no doubt as to the

slightly unpleasant undercurrent that he represented.

Ranma was supposed to marry Akane, not Ukyou.

Not his mom.

His very presence there was a reminder that Soun Tendo's

dreams would not come to pass. They probably didn't think

he noticed it, but he did, when Soun cast a wary glance at

him, or Akane frowned as he talked about how his mother and

father were... would be... will be...

"Argh."

He didn't like this feeling. The Tendo home was

supposed to be Bell-chan's, a place where he'd always be

welcome.

Well it was about time he went back to that place, blue

specks in his eyes or not.

Feeling full of purpose once more, he walked to the door

calmly, and asked to see Ranma. Kasumi lead him through the

house, feeling the awkwardness the other Tendos felt when he

was around, as he passed her, to the dojo, where Ranma was

keeping himself busy doing katas.

Ryo waved. "Hey pop."

"Oh, hey Ryo. Feelin' better, huh?"

"Good enough," said Ryo. "Hey, listen, pop, you hid the

lockets, right?"

"'course I did."

"Well, I think it's time... y'know?"

"Time?" Ranma blinked and looked at Ryo cluelessly.

"Time I went home," said Ryo. "Time everyone else went

home too."

"Oh." Ranma nodded. "Well, I hid one of them behind

the shrine," he said, tilting his head at the shrine on the

dojo wall.

Ryo immediately went to it and searched blindly with his

hand.

"Um, pop? You sure it's here?"

"Yeah I'm sure," said Ranma. "Move aside, lemme see."

He reached behind the shrine... and blinked.

"Oh boy."

Ryo gave him a haggard, wearly look. "What do you mean,

'oh boy'?"

A pair of silhouettes appeared at the doorway. "Hey,

Ryo," said a stern female voice. "There's something we need

to straighten out."

Ryo turned around. "Childra..."

The woman didn't look happy, and Ishido looked even less

so. "You aren't taking Childra away from me," said Ishido.

His battle aura flickered slightly.

Ryo sighed. "Oh boy."

A gentle knock on the door turned Miyabi's head. Kaeri

entered, giving Miyabi a smile and a gentle squeeze on the

shoulder, then stood by Muhoshin's side.

"I found it," she said, then pulled a shining silver

locket from her pocket.

Muhoshin smiled. The straitjacket holding him

dissappeared with an azure flash. He took the locket from

her hand, held it high, then suddenly pressed it to his

chest. Azure flames blazed from beneath his hand and a

whirlwind seemed to rush through the room.

And then all was quiet.

"What... what did you do?" asked Miyabi.

Muhoshin didn't stand so much as he slithered up to a

standing position. From under his shirt, Miyabi noticed a

pulsating azure glow.

"Just took my heart back," mumbled Muhoshin. Another

flash of blue engulfed him and he suddenly had on a new grey

suit, tailored and pressed to perfection. "You couldn't

find the other one?" he asked Kaeri.

She shook her head. "I'm sorry, Muhoshin-san."

"No need to apologize. This one will do."

Miyabi suddenly had a bad feeling about this, but she

couldn't leave now. As Kaeri rushed up to Muhoshin's side

and embraced him, Miyabi knew the scarred girl might be

blind to Muhoshin's faults.

Someone had to watch out for her.

For better or worse, she was with them.

"Pardon me, ladies, but I've errands to run," said

Muhoshin.

"Errands?" asked Miyabi. "What kind of er... hey!"

Suddenly, she found herself bathed in azure flames and

fading into nothing. "What's going on here?!"

Muhoshin gave her a reassuring smile. "Just sending you

and Kaeri ahead. Don't worry, I'll be with you soon."

Miyabi yelled in protest, but her words were lost as she

and Kaeri vanished in flashes of bright blue.

Alone once more, Ryo Muhoshin's grin lost all warmth.

"Suddenly, I'm in the mood for okonomiyaki."

Ranma moved into a fighting stance, ready to defend his

son. Ryo, however, had other ideas.

"Dad, it's okay. Listen, guys," said Ryo Saotome

wearily. "Let's talk about this."

"We're just a little worried," said Childra, not

relaxing a bit. "You seem to be very keen on 'setting

everything right', and that would mean sending Ishido back

to where he came from."

"I don't want to go back," said Ishido firmly. "I am

_not_ going back. I'm staying with Childra."

Ryo held his hands up in submission. "Okay, okay, you

guys want to stay together. I understand that. Fine." He

hesitated a moment, thinking of the words to say to diffuse

the situation.

"Right, okay, I'll let you stay together," lied Ryo.

Muhoshin's last words nagged at him.

'You're just like me.'

No, he said to himself, no I'm not.

"And where are the lockets, anyway?" asked Childra.

"Well, one was right here," said Ryo. "You sure, pop?"

"Yeah I'm sure!" said Ranma. "It was right-"

Suddenly, flames of blue erupted in the air an arm's

length in front of Ryo and faded away to reveal an

okonomiyaki takeout box. Reflexively, Ryo caught it before

it fell to the ground.

Ryo's sinking feeling sunk even lower as he opened the

box. Written in sauce were the words 'HELP ME', and

scribbled inside the box lid were the following lines:

Hear the loud alarum bells-

Brazen bells!

What a tale of terror now, their turbulency tells!

In the startled ear of night

How they scream out their affright!

Too much horrified to speak,

They can only shriek, shriek,

Out of tune,

In a clamorous appealing to the mercy of the fire,

In a mad expostulation with the deaf and

frantic fire,

Leaping higher, higher, higher,

With a desperate desire,

And a resolute endeavor,

Now- now to sit or never,

By the side of the pale-faced moon.

Oh, the bells, bells, bells!

catchy, isn't it?

\- Muhoshin

p.s. Got your mom too

Ryo dropped the box, his arms trembling.

"Oh no... Bell-chan."

END ACT 8

\- end act 8 -

E

by Susan Doenime

Characters and Backstory by Rumiko Takahashi. Used without permission.

Ranma slept.

This was not exactly an unusual occurrence. It happened every

night, and usually did not stir any interest or comment.

Breathe in, breathe out. Turn slightly. Mutter.

The reader may be wondering why such a common event is

being described. Be patient.

Like most martial artists, Ranma was a light sleeper. With the

amount of people after his head, he really had to be. So when the

object came sailing through the window to land with a clatter on

the floor, one of his eyes shot open.

A few seconds later, a flare of brilliant light filled the room,

and the eye snapped shut. Springing to his feet, trying to blink

away the spots dancing in front of his vision, Ranma waited for

the attack. Mousse, perhaps? Sasuke? It wasn't really Kunou or

Ryouga's style...

Perhaps some entirely new enemy?

His senses reached out to take in the entire room, to perceive

every flow of chi, to prepare for the barrage of thrusts that was

about to come.

A minute passed.

Maybe it was some sort of chi blast that took time to charge?

Five minutes passed.

His brow furrowed. A flashbomb used to blind your opponent

was a sound tactic, but only if you followed up on it immediately.

His vision had long since returned to normal, and he was now on

guard. His foe had thrown away the advantage of surprise for no

good reason.

After thirty minutes, he gave up and went back to sleep. But

with one eye open. Just in case.

.

His sleep that night was a exhausting affair, and to compensate

he rose in the late morning. Some joker, he mused, was trying to

rattle him.

Ranma shrugged. He could deal with it. After breakfast.

After pulling on his clothing, he skipped downstairs and into the

kitchen. And froze.

The room was occupied by Akane, Akari, and P-chan. And a

sinkfull of warm, soapy water.

"Time for P-chan's bath!" cooed Akane. Akari smiled

benevolently.

Ohmygodohmygod...she'll kill Ryouga and then she'll kill me...

"Akane! No!"

His fiancee didn't even turn. "What is it, Ranma? I'm just giving

P-chan a bath." She began to lower the pig towards the water...

"No! Uh, warm water's really bad for them!"

Akari spoke for the first time. "On the contrary. It's necessary

for their good health to be bathed every so often."

"See," Akane said, a smug tone in her voice. "And Akari should

know, her being a pig breeder."

Horrified, Ranma saw it. Akari wanted to break any possibility

of a Ryouga/Akane relationship in the most complete way she

could.

Akane dunked P-chan into the warm, soapy, warm sink.

Ranma closed his eyes, and waited for the carnage.

"Akari, hand me the soap."

Huh?

He opened his eyes. P-chan was happily splashing about in the

sink. In the sink filled with warm water.

Dashing over to where the two girls stood, he dipped his finger

in the water. Warm. It was warm. And Ryouga was a pig.

He stared at his friend's eyes in horror. The eyes stared back.

Empty. A pig's eyes.

"Ranma? Is something wrong?"

"Oh no... Ryouga... oh, man..."

Akari grabbed his arm. "What about Ryouga?"

He turned to face her. She didn't look upset in the slightest. "He

didn't change back! He's stuck in his cursed form!"

"What cursed form?" the girls asked simultaneously.

Ranma closed his eyes. This was going to get him in trouble,

but...

"P-chan is Ryouga with a Jyusenkyou curse. The warm water

should have changed him back. But it didn't. Something's trapped

him like this."

Akane turned pale. "You mean he... that.. my bed...that... my BED!"

Akari just looked puzzled. "Ranma, that's not true."

"What do you mean? You've known about the curse too!"

"My BED! That... I'm going to..."

"Ryouga," Akari said calmly, "is not P-chan."

"Why would I be P-chan?" asked Ryouga, who had just strolled

in from the dining room.

Who had just...

Ranma looked at the sink. P-chan was splashing about happily in

the water. He turned back to the door. Ryouga was standing in the

doorframe, looking bemused.

There was a bucket of water in a corner, and Ranma threw it at

Ryouga. It hit dead-on.

Ryouga made an amazing transformation. He went from a dry,

bemused Ryouga to a wet, annoyed Ryouga.

"Ranma! Why are you throwing water at me?"

"Ranma," snarled Akane, "why are you trying to give me a heart

attack with filthy lies about Ryouga and P-chan?"

Oh no.

"Ryouga," he said hesitantly, "can we talk?"

"I think that would be wise," the Lost Boy evenly replied.

.

They went for a walk.

There was something odd about Ryouga, thought Ranma. He

wasn't trying to kill him. He didn't really even seem all that mad.

And there was something else, something he couldn't quite place...

"Ryouga, how'd you get cured?"

"Cured of what?"

"The curse!"

Ryouga stared at him. "What curse?"

"The one you got at Jyusenkyou, stupid!"

"Ranma," Ryouga slowly said, "I've never been to Jyusenkyou."

Then it struck him what seemed wrong about Ryouga.

"Hey, man, when did you paint your umbrella blue?"

"It's always been blue. Ranma, did you hit your head fighting

Ukyou or something?"

Fighting...

The flash of light, with no attack following...

"I think I'd better go see Cologne."

Ryouga looked puzzled. "Why do you want to talk to him?"

Oh boy.

.

Ranma recognized the Amazon matriarch the second he saw

her. Or, rather, the second he saw _him_. Cologne was male.

"Ah, Apprentice! What can I do for you?"

"Something's wrong," he said flatly. "My memories don't match

reality. You should be female, and Ryouga should have a

Jyusenkyou curse."

The withered old man listened as Ranma told about the burst of

light, the events in the kitchen, and his conversation with Ryouga.

Finally he spoke.

"I think I know what has happened, but I will need to make sure.

If you will stand still for a moment..."

Ranma did, and Cologne rummaged around for a selection of

scrolls. After settling on one, he began to incant in an odd, harsh

language. The room grew dark, and a odd aura flared around

Ranma's body.

Despite an urge to scream and run, he held still.

Cologne finally fell silent, and the glow surrounding Ranma

faded. The old man slowly nodded. "As I thought. You are not from

this reality."

"Huh?"

"Someone has exchanged you with the Ranma Saotome of this

universe. You are not where you belong."

His head spun. Of course, that explained everything! "How do I

get back?"

Cologne frowned. "It will not be easy. There are tales of a

magical locket that let one move from one world to another,

said to be lost somewhere in China. If you could find that..."

"Somewhere in China! Do you have any idea how BIG China is?"

The old man stroked his beard. "True, true. It may indeed take a

while."

"I don't even speak the language very well!"

"Your best friend does."

Ranma laughed. "Ryouga? He doesn't..."

"No. I mean Shampoo."

"I'd hardly call her my best friend. She wants to marry me!"

Cologne laughed. "Really? How odd. The Shampoo of this world

just sees you as a close friend. Although Ukyou did once try to fix

you two up so that you'd stop bothering Akane."

Ranma frowned. "Ukyou's a guy in this world?"

"No, a lesbian. So is Akane. They've been going steady for

months, although we never were able to get you to give up on

her.."

"Oh my G...that's...You've got to get me back to my world!"

Shampoo entered from the back room. "Oh, Nihao Ranma. You

spar with Shampoo?"

"Great-granddaughter, Ranma needs your help."

.

It took half an hour to persuade Shampoo to go with him. After

some last minute advice from Cologne, the two headed out the

door.

If it takes a million years, Ranma thought grimly, I'm going to

find my way home. Ucchan and Akane... He shuddered.

Cologne watched the pair head off in the direction of the docks,

smiled, and put on a kettle. After a minute, Ryouga walked in.

"Is he gone?"

"Yes." Cologne lifted the kettle and poured it over himself,

rapidly shifting into female form. "You did well, boy. I was afraid

you'd foul up."

Ryouga rubbed his head. "I had trouble convincing Akari to go

along with it, but she gave in. Even helped me find a piglet the

same color and size as P-chan. Got any more of that instant

nyannichuan, by the way?"

Cologne handed him a box. "Here you go. Except for the packet

you used, and the packet I used, it should be full."

"Good." Ryouga frowned for a second. "What do I tell Akane?"

"The truth. Tell her that Ranma left for China with Shampoo,

and never wants to see her again. She'll be upset, and you'll be

there to comfort her."

"And Ranma?"

"He'll spend years searching China for a magical reality-

traveling locket that doesn't exist, while the delayed action

love spell I cast on him starts taking effect. He'll marry Shampoo

within two years."

Ryouga grinned happily. "And Akane will be mine."

"If you work hard at it." Cologne frowned. Something she had

said was nagging at her, but she didn't know what.

Oh well. It couldn't have been very important.

There are an awful lot of reality-travel fanfics, with Ranma waking up

in another world for no good reason. In all of them, it's odd how quickly

he accepts the fact that he really has been transported to an alternate

dimension.

Or maybe not so odd, considering the weirdness of his life.

Another common theme is how his love for Akane eventually carries him

through the plots and dangers tossed at him. In the end, it does seem to

be the reason for his coming out on top.

A cunning enemy would turn this strength into a weakness.

Special thanks to Kevin Eav, Chris Willmore, and RpM. Mythical

reality-traveling locket indeed.

\- Susan Doenime


	13. Chapter 13

========================================================================= _ _ _ _ _ _ _

\\_ | | | _| | | | | | | | | \  
\ |- | | | _ |_| | | | | | | | | |_| | | _ | | || | | | | | \ | |- /_ | | || | | _/ |_ | \\_|_ |_ _/ _|_ | \| |_|

========================================================================= by Susan Doenime ========================================================================= Characters and Backstory by Rumiko Takahashi. Used without permission.  
=========================================================================

Ranma slept.

This was not exactly an unusual occurrence. It happened every night, and usually did not stir any interest or comment.

Breathe in, breathe out. Turn slightly. Mutter.

The reader may be wondering why such a common event is being described. Be patient.

Like most martial artists, Ranma was a light sleeper. With the amount of people after his head, he really had to be. So when the object came sailing through the window to land with a clatter on the floor, one of his eyes shot open.

A few seconds later, a flare of brilliant light filled the room, and the eye snapped shut. Springing to his feet, trying to blink away the spots dancing in front of his vision, Ranma waited for the attack. Mousse, perhaps? Sasuke? It wasn't really Kunou or Ryouga's style...

Perhaps some entirely new enemy?

His senses reached out to take in the entire room, to perceive every flow of chi, to prepare for the barrage of thrusts that was about to come.

A minute passed.

Maybe it was some sort of chi blast that took time to charge?

Five minutes passed.

His brow furrowed. A flashbomb used to blind your opponent was a sound tactic, but only if you followed up on it immediately. His vision had long since returned to normal, and he was now on guard. His foe had thrown away the advantage of surprise for no good reason.

After thirty minutes, he gave up and went back to sleep. But with one eye open. Just in case.

His sleep that night was a exhausting affair, and to compensate he rose in the late morning. Some joker, he mused, was trying to rattle him.

Ranma shrugged. He could deal with it. After breakfast.

After pulling on his clothing, he skipped downstairs and into the kitchen. And froze.

The room was occupied by Akane, Akari, and P-chan. And a sinkfull of warm, soapy water.

"Time for P-chan's bath!" cooed Akane. Akari smiled benevolently.

Ohmygodohmygod...she'll kill Ryouga and then she'll kill me... "Akane! No!"

His fiancee didn't even turn. "What is it, Ranma? I'm just giving P-chan a bath." She began to lower the pig towards the water...

"No! Uh, warm water's really bad for them!"

Akari spoke for the first time. "On the contrary. It's necessary for their good health to be bathed every so often."

"See," Akane said, a smug tone in her voice. "And Akari should know, her being a pig breeder."

Horrified, Ranma saw it. Akari wanted to break any possibility of a Ryouga/Akane relationship in the most complete way she could.

Akane dunked P-chan into the warm, soapy, warm sink.

Ranma closed his eyes, and waited for the carnage.

"Akari, hand me the soap."

Huh?

He opened his eyes. P-chan was happily splashing about in the sink. In the sink filled with warm water.

Dashing over to where the two girls stood, he dipped his finger in the water. Warm. It was warm. And Ryouga was a pig.

He stared at his friend's eyes in horror. The eyes stared back. Empty. A pig's eyes.

"Ranma? Is something wrong?"

"Oh no... Ryouga... oh, man..."

Akari grabbed his arm. "What about Ryouga?"

He turned to face her. She didn't look upset in the slightest. "He didn't change back! He's stuck in his cursed form!"

"What cursed form?" the girls asked simultaneously.

Ranma closed his eyes. This was going to get him in trouble, but...

"P-chan is Ryouga with a Jyusenkyou curse. The warm water should have changed him back. But it didn't. Something's trapped him like this."

Akane turned pale. "You mean he... that.. my bed...that... my BED!"

Akari just looked puzzled. "Ranma, that's not true."

"What do you mean? You've known about the curse too!"  
"My BED! That... I'm going to..."

"Ryouga," Akari said calmly, "is not P-chan."

"Why would I be P-chan?" asked Ryouga, who had just strolled in from the dining room.

Who had just...

Ranma looked at the sink. P-chan was splashing about happily in the water. He turned back to the door. Ryouga was standing in the doorframe, looking bemused.

There was a bucket of water in a corner, and Ranma threw it at Ryouga. It hit dead-on.

Ryouga made an amazing transformation. He went from a dry, bemused Ryouga to a wet, annoyed Ryouga.

"Ranma! Why are you throwing water at me?"

"Ranma," snarled Akane, "why are you trying to give me a heart attack with filthy lies about Ryouga and P-chan?"

Oh no.

"Ryouga," he said hesitantly, "can we talk?"

"I think that would be wise," the Lost Boy evenly replied.

They went for a walk.

There was something odd about Ryouga, thought Ranma. He wasn't trying to kill him. He didn't really even seem all that mad. And there was something else, something he couldn't quite place...

"Ryouga, how'd you get cured?"

"Cured of what?"

"The curse!"

Ryouga stared at him. "What curse?"

"The one you got at Jyusenkyou, stupid!"

"Ranma," Ryouga slowly said, "I've never been to Jyusenkyou."

Then it struck him what seemed wrong about Ryouga.

"Hey, man, when did you paint your umbrella blue?"

"It's always been blue. Ranma, did you hit your head fighting Ukyou or something?"

Fighting...

The flash of light, with no attack following...

"I think I'd better go see Cologne."

Ryouga looked puzzled. "Why do you want to talk to him?"

Oh boy.

Ranma recognized the Amazon matriarch the second he saw her. Or, rather, the second he saw _him_. Cologne was male.

"Ah, Apprentice! What can I do for you?"

"Something's wrong," he said flatly. "My memories don't match reality. You should be female, and Ryouga should have a Jyusenkyou curse."

The withered old man listened as Ranma told about the burst of light, the events in the kitchen, and his conversation with Ryouga. Finally he spoke.

"I think I know what has happened, but I will need to make sure. If you will stand still for a moment..."

Ranma did, and Cologne rummaged around for a selection of scrolls. After settling on one, he began to incant in an odd, harsh language. The room grew dark, and a odd aura flared around Ranma's body.

Despite an urge to scream and run, he held still.

Cologne finally fell silent, and the glow surrounding Ranma faded. The old man slowly nodded. "As I thought. You are not from this reality."

"Huh?"

"Someone has exchanged you with the Ranma Saotome of this universe. You are not where you belong."

His head spun. Of course, that explained everything! "How do I get back?"

Cologne frowned. "It will not be easy. There are tales of a magical locket that let one move from one world to another, said to be lost somewhere in China. If you could find that..."

"Somewhere in China! Do you have any idea how BIG China is?"

The old man stroked his beard. "True, true. It may indeed take a while."

"I don't even speak the language very well!"

"Your best friend does."

Ranma laughed. "Ryouga? He doesn't..."

"No. I mean Shampoo."

"I'd hardly call her my best friend. She wants to marry me!"

Cologne laughed. "Really? How odd. The Shampoo of this world just sees you as a close friend. Although Ukyou did once try to fix you two up so that you'd stop bothering Akane."

Ranma frowned. "Ukyou's a guy in this world?"

"No, a lesbian. So is Akane. They've been going steady for months, although we never were able to get you to give up on her.."

"Oh my G...that's...You've got to get me back to my world!"

Shampoo entered from the back room. "Oh, Nihao Ranma. You spar with Shampoo?"

"Great-granddaughter, Ranma needs your help."

It took half an hour to persuade Shampoo to go with him. After some last minute advice from Cologne, the two headed out the door.

If it takes a million years, Ranma thought grimly, I'm going to find my way home. Ucchan and Akane... He shuddered.

Cologne watched the pair head off in the direction of the docks, smiled, and put on a kettle. After a minute, Ryouga walked in.

"Is he gone?"

"Yes." Cologne lifted the kettle and poured it over himself, rapidly shifting into female form. "You did well, boy. I was afraid you'd foul up."

Ryouga rubbed his head. "I had trouble convincing Akari to go along with it, but she gave in. Even helped me find a piglet the same color and size as P-chan. Got any more of that instant nyannichuan, by the way?"

Cologne handed him a box. "Here you go. Except for the packet you used, and the packet I used, it should be full."

"Good." Ryouga frowned for a second. "What do I tell Akane?"

"The truth. Tell her that Ranma left for China with Shampoo, and never wants to see her again. She'll be upset, and you'll be there to comfort her."

"And Ranma?"

"He'll spend years searching China for a magical reality-  
traveling locket that doesn't exist, while the delayed action love spell I cast on him starts taking effect. He'll marry Shampoo within two years."

Ryouga grinned happily. "And Akane will be mine."

"If you work hard at it." Cologne frowned. Something she had said was nagging at her, but she didn't know what.

Oh well. It couldn't have been very important.

There are an awful lot of reality-travel fanfics, with Ranma waking up in another world for no good reason. In all of them, it's odd how quickly he accepts the fact that he really has been transported to an alternate dimension.  
Or maybe not so odd, considering the weirdness of his life.  
Another common theme is how his love for Akane eventually carries him through the plots and dangers tossed at him. In the end, it does seem to be the reason for his coming out on top.  
A cunning enemy would turn this strength into a weakness.  
Special thanks to Kevin Eav, Chris Willmore, and RpM. Mythical reality-traveling locket indeed. ^_-

\- Susan Doenime =========================================================================


End file.
